Beyond delivering core messages of partnership and a new beginning
based on mutual understanding and respect, Obama made three big scores:
He essentially neutralizedOsama bin Laden. He managed to call IranianPresident Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a hateful ignoramus without ever mentioning his name.

And,
he affirmed Western values of democracy, human rights, religious
freedom and women’s right to self-determination — all while making
Muslims feel complimented, appreciated and understood.

No small feats.

To delegitimize the man whose name rhymes with his, Obama had only to show up and not beGeorge W. Bush.
Osama the cave-dweller’s latest blurt, timed to pre-empt Obama’s
speech, was more pathetic than threatening — the muffled bleat of an
emasculated warrior powerless against an enemy he can no longer
demonize.

Osama is the withered and quivering Gollum — seething
with envy and nursing his precious hatred — to Obama’s robust and
hope-driven Frodo. The forces of darkness and light personified.