and quite agree on most points--especially in his tactful arabesque (from precise-Syria matters)--to put a stake in the JIngo-heart of that exceptionalism fantasy.
He didn't have to Lie once!
While we realize that Putin's feet are indeed clay-like, he appears quite able to practice Statecraft, even against a virtuoso-rhetorician like BHO.
(I so WISH BHO'd dump the 'exceptionalism' thing permanently..) and that all the other Pols would render-Illegal: the use of The 'Murican Peeple think.. phrase
--under penalty of $10K-fine for the first one, then escalating until ... all you have left is a small pot to pee in.