There is a difference between apologising for Americans or America, the people and the country, and apologising for the things that Americans might do. The first would, indeed, mark a pusillanimous bow to prejudice about who are Americans are; the latter indicates a sense of responsibility for actions and an awareness of the consequences of what Americans do, particularly when representing the country.

Which brings us to the second point. America has done a number of things it needs to apologise for. There are precious few countries that don’t at some point in their history (Britain being pretty high on the list). When Romney writes, “Never before in American history has its president gone before so many foreign audiences to apologize for so many American misdeeds, both real and imagined,” he forgets that Bush gave Obama a lot to apologise for, including invading countries on false pretences, torture, violating international law.

This is not a sign of weakness, but of strength. Unless you are prepared to show that you know right from wrong, how is anyone supposed to believe that you are capable of righting wrongs. If Republicans are serious about being respected again in the world, then they need to disinter George Bush and examine the remains…

Which leads neatly to point three. Far from debasing America’s international image Obama has massively improved it.