Down he goes! The tumbling, free-fall spring of George W. Bush

Yet another low for our-not-so-beloved president. Bush rates only a 31 percent approval rating in the New York Times/CBS News Poll released tonight.

Bush’s rating ties the low point reached by his father in July 1992, just before Bush the Elder lost his effort to win a second term. The Times reports that this is the “third lowest approval rating of any president in 50 years” with only Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter rating lower.

Americans have a bleaker view of the country's direction than at any time in more than two decades, and sharp disapproval of President Bush's handling of gasoline prices has combined with intensified unhappiness about Iraq to create a grim political environment for the White House and Congressional Republicans.

What’s surprising to me is that 46 percent of those polled still approve of Bush’s handling of the “campaign against terrorism” as The Times calls it. Meanwhile, only 29 percent approve of the way he’s handling Iraq and only 27 percent approve of his foreign policy.

I’m not certain how those numbers make any sense together, not to mention why anyone would agree that the who-the-heck-is-Osama president is great in dealing with terror. (I'm not kidding about Bush forgetting Al Qaeda. Given his obsession with Iraq, has Bush even mentioned Osama bin Laden anytime recently?)

Oh yes, can't forget this: Only 13 percent agree with Bush’s handling of the issue of gas prices. Youch! Not even the most conservative conservatives agree with him on that one.