US:Republicans created the Trump problem

The agenda of Thursday's Fox News-hosted Republican debate, like the agenda of the Republican party itself, was pretty plainly to undermine Donald Trump. He is a threat to the party and is at war even with Fox News, so it was unsurprising that the first round of questions was explicitly designed to prompt each and every candidate to condemn the field's front-runner.

The very first question, which went to Ted Cruz, sent the clear message, like many that followed it, that the candidates and moderators all oppose Trump: "Donald Trump has chosen not to attend this evening's presidential debate. What message do you think that sends to the voters of Iowa?"

But once the Trump-bashing ritual had ended, and Fox News had done its duty in the GOP's campaign to bring down Trump before Trump brings down the party, something curious happened. The discussion shifted to terrorism. And every candidate on stage — as well as the moderators themselves — announced that Americans were at grave and imminent danger from the "radical Muslims" in our midst, that President Obama is ushering terrorists into our neighborhoods, and that political correctness has shackled police from keeping us safe.

It was a breathtaking sight. Only moments after decrying the destructive extremism of Donald J. Trump, the candidates and moderators paused for a commercial break and, without even a hint of self-awareness, urged their audience to embrace exactly the sense of fear and desperation that so fuels Trump.

What you saw in this debate was the GOP field and the party's most powerful media institution declare their opposition to Donald Trump, then go about, for two hours, painstakingly maintaining the eco-system of fear that allows him to thrive.
If you watched this debate, you would come away with a very clear picture: "radical Muslims" — a deliberately vague phrase that blurs who is and is not a threat — are flowing into this country to destroy it from within, they are poised to overwhelm our weakened military from without, and "political correctness" prevents our law enforcement from keeping us safe. It is a paranoid fantasy, in which Barack Obama is deliberately leaving us exposed and many of America's 2.6 million Muslim Americans, not to mention the billion-plus Muslims abroad, are suspected of conspiring to destroy us.

It is a world animated by desperate fear, in which extreme threats call for extreme measure, and in which nefarious conspiracies lurk around every corner and in every mosque. It is, in other words, exactly the sort of environment in which Donald Trump is destined to thrive.

Here are four of the things that a viewer would learn from Thursday's debate, which, in sum, practically compose a recruiting pamphlet to volunteer for the Trump campaign:
(1) Barack Obama deliberately hollowed out our military, leaving us weak

"Barack Obama right now, number one, over seven years has dramatically degraded our military." — Ted Cruz

"You cannot destroy ISIS with a military that's been diminished." — Marco Rubio"

(2) Obama is allowing terrorists to flow into our communities

"I don't know of anyone who is not in favor of fully vetting people trying to come to this country, other than perhaps Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton." — Marco Rubio

"You can't defend us against Islam if you're not for border security." — Rand Paul

(3) Political correctness prevents law enforcement from protecting us

"We need to stop allowing political correctness to dictate our policies, because it's going to kill us if we don't." — Ben Carson, after being asked whether "GOP messaging on Muslims has stoked the flames of bias, as the Democrats suggest"

"Barack Obama has made law enforcement the enemy, Hillary Clinton has made law enforcement the enemy. ... It's making people nervous to go to law enforcement. As president, I will support law enforcement and we'll stop radical terrorist attacks in this country by supporting our intelligence and law enforcement community." — Chris Christie

(4) ISIS could defeat America unless we make a change and soon

"Radical Islamic jihadists, what they want to do is impose their faith upon each and every one of us. Every one of us. The reason why this war against them is so important is that very basis of religious liberty. They want everyone in this country to follow their religious beliefs the way they do." — Chris Christie

"They're the best funded radical group in the history of the world and have shown a sophisticated understanding of the laws of other countries and are planning to attack us here at home and around the world." — Marco Rubio
As in previous Fox News debates, the moderators were quite willing to get involved in the arguments themselves, typically by chastising the candidates for being insufficiently conservative or urging them to disavow moderate views. (One moderator told Rubio that, for his prior support for a moderate immigration policy, he had "already proven you cannot be trusted on this issue.")

There was one exchange in particular, between Megyn Kelly and Chris Christie, that really captured how Fox News and the Republican establishment create and enforce a worldview of fear and Islamophobia that dovetails perfectly with Trump's campaign.

I've reproduced it in full below, but the gist is that Kelly first badgers Christie, telling him he should support a policy that orders police to target Muslims. Then she goes on to say that the San Bernadino attacks could have been prevented had law enforcement and neighbors not felt chastened by police correctness that prevents us from treating all Muslims as threats.