Last July, President Obama presented Staff Sgt. Ryan Pitts of New Hampshire with the Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony. Pitts single-handedly defended an outpost from hundreds of attacking Taliban fighters. He emptied machine guns, tossed grenades and did whatever it took to protect his fellow soldiers. As Obama put it, Against the onslaught, one American held the line. Less than two months earlier, Obama had been in the White House Rose Garden, grinning while the father of Army deserter Bowe Bergdahl gave his son an encouraging shoutout in Pashto the language of the Taliban.