Seeking to “speak directly to the American people and their political leaders,” Russian president Vladimir V. Putin took to the New York Times opinion pages Wednesday.

While presenting his case against a military strike on his Middle Eastern ally, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, Putin ostensibly rebuked Obama for his recent remarks regarding American exceptionalism.

Mr. Putin writes, “I would rather disagree with a case [Obama] made on American exceptionalism, stating that the United States’ policy is ‘what makes America different. It’s what makes us exceptional.’”

“It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation,” explained Mr. Putin.

Let’s not forget it was Ronald Reagan’s philosophy of “Peace through strength” that led to the Soviet Union’s demise. No wonder the Russian leader is bitter.

However, it’s absurd to think Obama believes that America is exceptional, and it’s equally absurd to believe that Obama is following in the footsteps of America’s former beloved leader. After all, shortly after becoming president, Obama famously went on his world apology tour.

Recall this quote from Obama in April, 2009 while speaking in Strasbourg, France: “I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.”

In other words, for Obama, “exceptionalism” is a relative term. Just like all his other policies, both foreign and domestic, his goal is to enact “equality.” And those are policies Russia is happy to support.