Alex Knapp links to evidence of growing Republican dissention over the Patriot Act and remarks,

One of Bush’s major problems, IMHO, is that he’s completely incapable of admitting he’s made a mistake. Any backtracking on any issue at all is viewed as a painful compromise. It would be not only the right thing to do to support eliminating anti-liberty portions of the Patriot Act, it would be politically smart, too.

I agree that the Bushies seem remarkably unwilling to admit errors, even by Washington standards. In the particular case of Patriot Act, though, it’s far from clear they think they’ve made a mistake. Further, there’s probably good reason to be reluctant to admit errors in the current climate, as they’d be seized upon to demonstrate that the administration is floundering.