The president orders the release of memos detailing enhanced interrogation methods. This will ostensibly aid in the restoration of America’s moral legitimacy.

The president maintains that it may be appropriate to prosecute individuals who, in good faith, sanctioned the use of enhanced interrogation methods for the purpose of obtaining information necessary to avoid another catastrophic loss of American lives. This will aid in the restoration of America’s moral legitimacy.

The president apologizes — on three continents and before scores of foreign leaders – for the failures of America. This will aid in the restoration of America’s moral legitimacy.

Several of the foreign leaders who heard the president’s apology come from nations that have a documented history of employing the following “enhanced interrogation methods” : electrocution, starvation, dismemberment, genital mutilation, disembowelment, eye-gouging, and beheading. The NKVD, for one example, employed some of these methods not for purposes of interrogation, but for the sake of inflicting pain and destroying the humanity of the victim — thereby crushing the spirit of anyone allied with the victim.

In fact, some of these foreign leaders hail from countries where these “enhanced interrogation methods” aren’t mere history, but current practice. Yet there’s no evidence that they offered apologies on behalf of their respective countries. And there’s no evidence that the the president rebuked any of these leaders. On the contrary, there’s evidence that the president grinned at them, joked with them, embraced them, and bowed before them.

How does that aid in the restoration of America’s moral legitimacy?