Andrew Sullivan mentions some right-wingers who are against Bush on warrantless wiretaps and writes, “Eventually, the deference breaks. . .” In other words, more and more conservatives are joining Sullivan in his brave independence from party and president. Except that every single one of the conservatives mentioned has been against the Patriot Act and related executive-branch efforts against terrorism from the word go. They were there long before Sullivan got there. I say that not to praise them: Their arguments for their civil libertarian positions strike me as almost all weak (or, in the case of Grover Norquist, who speaks only in generalities on these issues, non-existent). I do wish that Sullivan’s self-regard would eventually break.