3 perspectives on post-Osama Obama

President Obama and his national security team watch updates on the mission to capture Osama bin Laden on Sunday.

Since the death of Osama bin Laden, there's been a firehose of commentary and analysis of President Obama. Nearly all of it has been positive -- in sharp contrast to the months before, when even some of his staunchest supporters wondered when he would get a spine and stand up to the GOP with some passion on the issues of federal budget cuts and debt reduction.

Here are three particularly good takes that caught my eye this week.

Leonard Pitts Jr. of The Miami Herald calls out as racist those who questioned Obama's citizenship. Check out his column, "Obama guilty of 'presidenting while black'"

(L)et us not dismiss the birther imbroglio without calling out the bigotry at its core. Yes, that word will bring howls of protest from people who will declare that race had nothing to do with their demands for Obama’s original birth certificate. 

And I believe them. Or at least, I believe they believe what they are saying.

E.J. Dionne Jr. of The Washington Post tries to get at the contradictions that have defined our president in his column "Obama the old? Now we know." 

Barack Obama is not the man many Americans thought he was. This sudden realization has transformed American politics. 

The sheer audacity of the successful operation against Osama bin Laden has forced Obama’s friends and foes alike to reassess what they make of a chief executive who defies easy categorization and reveals less about himself than politicians are typically drawn to do.Obama is hard to understand because he is many things and not just one thing. He has now proved that he can be bold at an operational level, even as he remains cautious at a philosophical level. 

John Blake of CNN offers a thoughtful piece exploring the meaning of an iconic photo in "What 'Situation Room Photo' reveals about us" 

Most commentators have focused on the historic nature of the photo: Obama staring at the screen with a grim intensity; Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, covering her mouth to repress her reaction -- the epicenter of U.S. military power hunting down its most hated foe. 

But look deeper and that photo becomes historic in a more subtle way. It's a snapshot of how much this nation's attitudes about race, women and presidential swagger are changing, several scholars and historians say.

Some good reading here.