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(CNN) -- If Vladimir Putin wanted to get Americans' attention, he seems to have done a pretty good job.

The Russian president's op-ed article arguing against military intervention in Syria, published on The New York Times' website late Wednesday, set off a flurry of reactions -- some outraged, some impressed, and some just plain bemused.

Democratic Senator Robert Menendez said the piece made him almost want to throw up.

Putin said he had written the opinion piece in order "to speak directly to the American people and their political leaders."

Putin makes his case in an op-ed

Vladimir Putin's call for peace

But he appeared to have raised some peoples' hackles with the last paragraph in which he disputed the idea of American exceptionalism.

It was a reference to President Barack Obama's address Tuesday night, in which he said that while America can't be a global cop, it ought to act when in certain situations.

"That's what makes us exceptional," Obama said. "With humility, but with resolve, let us never lose sight of that essential truth."

Putin's answer to that?

"It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation," he wrote.

He concluded with the line, "We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord's blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal."

'Hey Putin'

That didn't go down well with everyone.

"Hey Putin, next time you wanna write a letter to convince America about something, how about you skip saying we're not exceptional? #rude," tweeted Sarah Rumpf, a political consultant in Florida.

Other social media users suggested Putin's talk of equality didn't chime with his government's treatment of homosexuals.

"In his open letter Putin says 'God created us all equal' - guess he forgot about the gays & his discriminatory laws," tweeted Kristopher Wells, an assistant professor at the University of Alberta.

Dean: Putin piece was Russian propaganda

Russia's view on Syria

Earlier this year, Putin signed a law that bans the public discussion of gay rights and relationships where children might hear it. Violators can be fined and, if they are foreigners, deported.

Russia's wars

The Russian president also annoyed some people by warning against military action without U.N. Security Council approval.

"Man who launched military action in Georgia and Chechnya without UN say-so says wars without it are illegal?" tweeted the journalist John Podhoretz.

Russia blames Georgia for starting the war between the two countries in 2008 during which Russian troops occupied two breakaway territories under Georgian control, as well as large parts of Georgia.

And Moscow regards the two wars with separatists in Chechnya as internal conflicts.

Some Twitter users unearthed a previous op-ed that Putin wrote for The New York Times about the first Chechen conflict, in 1999.

Putin, then the prime minister of Russia, struck a different tone in that piece in which he sought to explain Russia's military action.

"No government can stand idly by when terrorism strikes," he wrote. "It is the solemn duty of all governments to protect their citizens from danger."

"Not a word on UN or Pope or Int'l law," Philip Gourevitch, a staff writer at The New Yorker, commented about the 1999 article. (Putin mentions the pope in his op-ed this week as being among those opposed to a U.S. strike against Syria.)

Senator's stomach turns

The overall tone of Putin's latest broadside was too much for Senator Menendez, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, who said he read the article at dinner on Wednesday.

"I almost wanted to vomit," said Menendez. "I worry when someone who came up through the KGB tells us what is in our national interests, and what is not. It really raises the question of how serious the Russian proposal is."

But plenty of people seemed to think Putin had scored some points against President Barack Obama.

"I think it's sad to see him acting with more common sense and humanity than Obama," said Ashton Blazer.

"Putin made a compelling, though disingenuous, case against military strikes. Its effectiveness shows how badly Pres Obama was outmaneuvered," tweeted Marc Lamont Hill.

Power plays

Others saw it in less subtle terms.

"#Putin diplomatically serves it to Pres. Obama in the last paragraph. Can't believe the #nytimes ran this," wrote Mary F. Mueller.

The White House shrugged off the fuss around Putin's jabs at Obama, describing them as "irrelevant."

The important thing, a senior White House official said Wednesday night, is that Putin is "fully invested in Syria's (chemical weapons) disarmament."

For some people, the tensions between the two presidents have become a spectacle in their own right.

"Putin plays his next move on our very own NYTimes. This is almost getting as good as Breaking Bad," wrote Twitter user @MiketheEye.

Others said the tone of the article brought to mind some of the famous photos of Putin in macho poses.

"Putin wrote his Times op-ed on an Underwood, shirtless, with hunting knife nearby," joked Chris Regan.