Every now and then the talk shows do, in fact, perform a public service. There were some noteworthy comments during the holiday weekend. First up, consider this exchange on Sunday’s 60 Minutes with President Bush:

SCOTT PELLEY, co-host: In his first interview since his address to the nation, Mr.. Bush sat down with us at the presidential retreat, Camp David. We also traveled with the president as he explained his plan to the troops and then as he met with families of Americans killed in action. Whatever you think of his policy, after this interview, you won’t doubt that even though Mr. Bush admits mistakes, he’s still a man determined to go his own way.
 
You mentioned mistakes having been made in your speech. What mistakes are you talking about?
 
President GEORGE W. BUSH: Abu Ghraib was a mistake. Using bad language, like, you know, “Bring them on” was a mistake. I think history is going to look back and see a lot of ways we could have done things better. No question about it.
 
PELLEY: The troop levels, sir…
 
Pres. BUSH: Could have been a mistake.
 
PELLEY: ….were not–could have been a mistake.
 
Pres. BUSH: Yeah. And the reason I brought up the mistakes, and I–is, one, I–well, that’s the job of the commander-in-chief, and, two, I don’t want people blaming our military. We got a bunch of good military people out there doing what we’ve asked them to do, and the temptation is going to find scapegoats. Well, if the people want a scapegoat, they got one right here in me because it’s my decisions.

PELLEY: Fair to say there were not enough American troops on the ground to provide security for Iraq.
 
Pres. BUSH: There’s not enough troops on the ground right now to provide security for Iraq, and that’s why I made the decision I made.
 
PELLEY: Do you think you owe the Iraqi people an apology for not doing a better job.
 
Pres. BUSH: No, I don’t–that–we didn’t do a better job or they didn’t do a better job?
 
PELLEY: Well, that the United States did not do a better job in providing…
 
Pres. BUSH: Not…
 
PELLEY: ….security after the invasion.
 
Pres. BUSH: Not at all. I think–I think I am proud of the efforts we did. We liberated that country from a tyrant. I think the Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude. That’s the problem, here in America. They wonder whether or not there is a gratitude level that’s significant enough in Iraq.

And how does the future look to the President? We’re glad you asked.

PELLEY: Most Americans at this point in time don’t believe in this war in Iraq. They want you to get us out of there.
 
Pres. BUSH: Hmm. I would hope they’d want us to succeed before we get out there. That’s the decision I had to make. I mean, there’s a–you know, Scott, there–I thought a lot about different options. One was doing nothing, just kind of the status quo. And I didn’t think that was acceptable, and I think most Americans don’t think it’s acceptable. Secondly, was get out.
 
PELLEY: You actually thought about that.
 
Pres. BUSH: Of course, I have. I think about it a lot, about different options, and my attitude is if we were to start withdrawing now, we’d have a crisis in our hands in Iraq. And not only in Iraq, but failure in Iraq will embolden the enemy. And the enemy is al-Qaeda and extremists. Failure in Iraq would empower Iran, which poses a significant threat to world peace. So then I began to think, `Well, if failure’s not an option, and we’ve got to succeed, how best to do so?’ And that’s why I came up with the plan I did.
 
PELLEY: You think the whole region could be in play? Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait?
 
Pres. BUSH: Absolutely. No question in my mind. These people have a plan. They have a vision of the world, and they intend to use murder to enact their vision. I fully understand that, you know, some of my buddies in Texas say, you know, `Let them fight it out. What business is it of ours? You got rid of Saddam. How come–you know, just let them slug it out.’ And I–that’s a temptation that I know a lot of people feel. But if we do not succeed in Iraq, we will leave behind a Middle East which will endanger America in the future.
 
PELLEY: Instability in Iraq threatens the entire region.
 
Pres. BUSH: If the government falls apart, it’ll invite Iran into the Shia neighborhoods, Sunnis–Sunni extremists into the Sunni neighborhoods, Kurdish separatist movements.
 
PELLEY: But wasn’t it your administration that created the instability in Iraq?
 
Pres. BUSH: Well, our administration took care of a source of instability in Iraq. Envision a world in which Saddam Hussein was rushing for a nuclear weapon to compete against Iran. If–my decision to remove Saddam Hussein was the correct decision in my judgment. But he is a–he was a significant source of instability.
 
PELLEY: It’s much more unstable now, Mr. President.
 
Pres. BUSH: Well, no question decisions have made things unstable. But the question is can we succeed? And I believe we can. I–listen, I’d like to see stability and a unified Iraq. A young democracy will provide the stability we look for.

But wait, there’s more. Consider this exchange on THIS WEEK ON ABC between  George Stephanopoulous and Stephen Hadley, National Security Advisor:

STEPHANOPOULOS: The president really focused on Iran, as well, on Wednesday night and a government official told our White House correspondent Martha Raddatz that the administration has come to the conclusion that Iran and Syria are waging war against the U.S. through proxies. For the record, do you believe Iran and Syria are waging war against the United States?
 
HADLEY: Here’s what we know. We know that there are Jihadists moving from Syria into Iraq. We know that that flow occurs, some number every month. We know also that Iran is supplying elements in Iraq that are attacking Iraqis and attacking our forces.
 
STEPHANOPOULOS: So is that war?
 
HADLEY: What the president has made very clear is these are activities that are going on in Iraq that are unacceptable. They put our people at risk and he said very clearly that we will take action against those. We will interdict their operations. We will disrupt their supply lines. We will disrupt these attacks. And you have seen in the last couple weeks that Iranians found doing things in Iraq have been picked up by coalition forces, and I think you’re going to see more of that. As General Pace said, we’re going to need to deal with what Iran is doing inside Iraq.
 
STEPHANOPOULOS: But do you believe the president now has the authority to target those individuals or groups inside Iran? The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee sent this letter to the White House this week, Joe Biden, saying he does not believe the president has that authority.
 
HADLEY: If people inside Iraq are doing things that set up attacks on our people, of course –
 
STEPHANOPOULOS: Inside Iran?
 
HADLEY: If people inside Iraq — if Iranians inside Iraq are doing things that are putting our people at risk, of course, we have the authority to go after them and protect our people. I don’t think anybody is going to dispute that.
 
STEPHANOPOULOS: But do you — including going after Iranian territory, those individuals inside Iran, if that’s where they’re organizing?
 
HADLEY: Well, what we’ve said very clearly is the priority is what’s going on in Iraq. That’s the place where the activity is occurring. That’s the best place for us to take this on. We have 140,000 troops in Iraq. That’s where we’re going to deal with this problem.
 
STEPHANOPOULOS: So you don’t believe you have the authority to go into Iran?
 
HADLEY: I didn’t say that. This is another issue. Any time you have questions about crossing international borders, there are legal issues. What I’m saying is this is what the president was saying Wednesday night, this is a problem. It needs to be dealt with. We intend to deal with it by interdicting and disrupting activities in Iraq sponsored by Iran that are putting our troops and Iraqis at risk.
 
And then, not to be missed was Vice President Cheney on Fox News Sunday, who, in the best tradition of the best defense is a good offensive said this: 
 
WALLACE: But to repeat my opening question, ultimately, will the U.S. do whatever it takes to win?
 
CHENEY: I believe we will. I think that if you look at the conflict that’s involved here, and remember that Iraq is just part of a larger war, it is, in fact, a global war that stretches from Pakistan all the way to North Africa. We’ve been engaged in Pakistan, we’ve been engaged in Afghanistan. We clearly are working closely with the Saudis, with the Gulf states, with the Egyptians. That we have gone in and aggressively since 9/11 gone after state sponsors of terror. Gone after safe havens where terrorists train and equipped and planned and operated to strike the United States.
 
And we’ve got people like Karzai in Afghanistan, and Musharraf in Pakistan, who are great allies, who put their lives on the line every single day that they go to work. Assassination attempts on their lives. And for us to succeed in all other areas, those people have got to have confidence in the United States, that they can count on us.
 
Now, if the United States doesn’t have the stomach to finish the task in Iraq, we put at risk what we’ve done in all those other locations out there. Remember what bin Laden’s strategy is. He doesn’t think he can beat us in a stand-up fight. He thinks he can force us to quit. He believes that after Lebanon in ‘83 and Somalia in ‘93, the United States doesn’t have the stomach for a long war. And Iraq is the current, central battlefield in that war, and we must win there. It’s absolutely essential that we win there. And we will win there.

And for those who say the Vice President can’t move quickly consider this nimble bit of revisionism:

WALLACE: Mr. Vice President, why did you and president decide to overrule the commanders?
 
CHENEY: Well, I don’t think we’ve overruled the commanders. The fact is, the plan we’ve got here now has been embraced by Abizaid, by General Casey, by Fox Fallon –
 
WALLACE: But how do you explain what he said right then? That’s less than two months ago.
 
CHENEY: Well, it was two months ago. We’ve, in fact, looked very carefully at this situation and we have a plan now that has, in fact, been endorsed by the generals, including Fox Fallon, who’s the new CENTCOM commander, who’s about to replace General Abizaid. Bob Gates, who’s the new secretary of defense. Part of the debate has been, Chris, over this question about how much emphasis you put on the priority of transitioning to Iraqi control, and how much you put on the question of using U.S. forces to deal with the security situation.
 
And there’s a balance to be struck there. And the old balance, basically in the past, places the emphasis on transitioning to the Iraqis. But we’ve made the decision, and came to the conclusion that until we’ve got a handle on the security situation in Baghdad, the Iraqis weren’t going to be able to make the progress they need to make on the economic front, on the political front, and so forth. And so, the conclusion is that with the plan that we’ve put in place now, that we’re going to place a greater emphasis upon going after the security problem in Baghdad. That has to come first. Political reconciliation’s important. Economic progress is important, but that we’ve got to get a handle on the security situation in Baghdad. That means more Iraqi forces. That means more U.S. forces.
 

Another piece of unintended amusement came from Stephen Hadley on Meet the Press.

Tim Russert: Senator Bill Nelson of Florida at the hearing said he supported the war, he had supported the administration, but that he has not been told the truth, and he can no longer support President Bush and the war in Iraq. And people watching that, listening to someone like Senator Nelson, began to put forward the following –That if you were wrong about weapons of mass destruction, you were wrong about the troops levels necessary, you were wrong about the costs of the war, you were wrong about oil revenues paying for reconstruction, you were wrong about being greet as liberators, you were wrong about the level of sectarian violence. Why should the American people trust you now and think you’re right about a surge?
 
HADLEY: The president laid out Wednesday night in a very candid way the situation that we’re faced with, and I think he understands that Americans are tried of this war, as I said, but I think it is also true the Americans don’t want to fail. They understand the stakes. They want a new policy in Iraq. So does the president. He spent the last two to three months developing a new policy. That’s what he laid out on Wednesday.
 
And I think, at the end of the day, the American people understand that the consequences of failure are too high. We’ll have a big — a debate, that debate started this week in front of the American people in the Congress, and the president’s belief is, in the end of the day, when people sort through this issue the way we did and he did, that how — whatever the history and whatever the disagreements about how we got here and whatever the mistakes that were made, which the president acknowledged and took responsibility for Wednesday night, this is the only path that has a prospect for success.