Discovered this problem tonight after repairing my right tail light (this problem effects both sides, so I know my repair didn't have anything to do with this newly discovered problem).
Both turn signals and brake lights work just fine without the running lights in the on position. However, when the running lights are on and you apply the brakes or one of the turn signals, you can see a very faint difference in brightness for both lights. To me it seems like the tails lights are at their full brightness when the running lights are on, thus the very slight difference when the brakes or turn signals are applied. Wierd problem, eh?