How do you say “get real” in Russian?

One wonders whether the answer might have been had recently, when President Barack Obama met Russian leader Vladimir Putin at the United Nations.

Both men delivered speeches before the U.N. General Assembly. Afterward, they met privately to discuss Syria. Obama’s goal was to persuade Putin to help the United States create a “managed transition” to remove Syrian dictator Bashar Assad from power.

No doubt Putin was very diplomatic in telling Obama it will be a warm January day in Siberia when that happens. But if he didn’t say it, the “get real” advice probably was running through the Russian leader’s mind. He also may have wondered if Obama has been paying any attention to current events or even history.

Russia and Syria have been very close allies for decades, since before Putin and Assad gained power. No amount of badgering by U.S. presidents has had any effect on changing that.

Now, Putin has sent military help to Assad, to help him defeat the Islamic State and other rebels.

Also on Obama’s mind was Russia’s support of Ukrainian rebels trying to topple that country’s regime. He hoped to talk Putin out of that, too.

It is no wonder Putin views the world’s only superpower as a super-pushover. After all, Obama has a virtually spotless record of alienating our allies and trusting foes such as Iran and Russia to do what the U.S. president defines as the right thing. Meanwhile, Putin does something entirely different: what he thinks is best for his country.