Rep. Heather Wilson, R-NM, did something on Sunday that I can’t quite square with her intelligence. Make no mistake, Wilson is smart. She is a Rhodes Scholar after all, which means not only is she smart but she is practiced at taking apart a complex issue and understanding it from all sides.

So imagine my surprise at Wilson’s performance on CBS’ Sunday morning talk show Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer.  Schieffer tapped Wilson for the first question. It related to Sarah Palin’s comments the day before in which she appeared to impugn Obama’s patriotism and said he “sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country.”

Huh?

Schieffer asked Wilson if she agreed with that line of attack. During the exchange, Wilson appeared to imply that, yes, Barack Obama’s critiques of certain American policies amounted to unpatriotic behavior.

Don’t believe me? You be the judge.

The following is from the Face the Nation transcript:

SCHIEFFER: Do you agree with that line of attack, that Barack Obama does not see America as a force for good?

Representative HEATHER WILSON (Republican, New Mexico): He has actually–you know, he goes over to Germany and talks to the Germans about America and the need to tear down the walls between the United States and our European allies as if it’s all America’s fault that we’ve, you know, we’re in the situation that we’re in. That’s not what we expect from our president. We expect someone to stand up for America and to realize that America is a force for good in the world and has been for a century.

SCHIEFFER: Well, that sounds like you’re saying that he’s somehow unpatriotic, which seemed to be the underlying theme of what she said yesterday, Congresswoman.

Rep. WILSON: Well, he has talked down about America. And you know, we’ve always had this history of saying, `Well, you know, politics ends at the water’s edge,’ and it didn’t for Barack Obama. He’s been critical not only of the president, but of American policy and hence of a–has kind of a negative view of America in the world. That’s not unusual, frankly, among liberals in kind of post-Vietnam America to say that America’s the problem. I think Sarah Palin believes that America is part of the solution. We are an exceptional country, we are a force for good.

SCHIEFFER: Well…

Rep. WILSON: And we need to talk about the good things we do.

First, the McCain campaign must be scared to death a month out from the election if they have to resort to attacks like this on Obama. Questions about Obama’s experience are legitimate. Implying that he is unpatriotic because he is critical of American policy is offensive. Implicit in that sort of attack is that debate on policy matters is off the table because one must subscribe to a certain view, one of American triumphalism and exceptionalism. More important, such a view seeks to do something that is very un-American — shut down debate on the proper role of the U.S. in the world.

Secondly, it’s a shame to see someone as smart as Wilson put aside her intelligence for a few moments to score political points. I realize it’s that time of year when surrogates for both presidential candidates do such things. They exaggerate, they stretch the truth, they leave out salient details to make the other guy look bad. But frankly it’s repulsive. I’m not sure, but I bet I speak for plenty of Americans who would like to see a real debate about issues when I say, Please, start acting like grownups, guys.