When I first saw this shot of the White House Situation Room, on the front pages of both the Sun-Times and the Tribune yesterday, I had a visceral reaction unlike any I'd had since the photos of the Twin Towers burning almost 10 years ago.

I thought about it, and actually had my students help me analyze the picture in class yesterday. And I think I know why it's so powerful.

Look at the expressions on the faces of the people in that room, intently gazing at a screen showing the firefight where Osama bin Laden met his end. They're all totally engaged, rapt with the vision of this violence half a world away.

Now shift gears: Picture yourself walking into this scene, not in the White House, but in some small-town or big-city bar, a place you've never been before, where as you walk in, you have to instantly ask yourself: can I have a quiet drink here, or will there be trouble? And who in this room is potentially trouble?

Most of the men, especially Biden, the men standing in the background, and the guy sitting next to Clinton, seem timid. Their body language is inward, cautious. Nothing to worry about there. Three men in the room, though, have the body language and the gaze that say one thing: I am one bad motherfucker, and you better think twice about starting anything with me.

Defense Secretary Gates, in the lower right corner. Chief of Staff Bill Daley, standing in the blue suit in the middle of the shot.

President Obama. Seated, at ease, but leaning forward with a palpable intensity, hands clasped, ready for action. Affectless expression, cold, steely. The baddest motherfucker in the room, and you know it, and he knows it, and everyone else in the room knows it, and with this photo, maybe the world knows it.