Republican debate: Deeper into the swamp of bigotry and militarism

Media coverage of the debate focused mainly on the back-and-forth between Cruz and Trump, now treated as the co-front-runners in the Iowa caucuses, the first actual contest, which takes place February 1.

There was also some attention paid to the squabbling among the four contenders vying for third place in Iowa and second place in the New Hampshire primary February 9 -- Senator Marco Rubio, Governor Chris Christie, Governor John Kasich and former Governor Jeb Bush. Each of these four seeks to become the choice of the Republican Party establishment against the supposed "outsiders" Trump and Cruz.

The tone of the debate was even more strident than its predecessors, with each candidate seeking to denounce the Obama administration, the Democratic Party, and Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton in the most unrestrained and hysterical tones.

Thus Cruz declared Obama "acts as an apologist for radical Islamic terrorism." Bush said that under the Obama administration, "The world has been torn asunder." Ben Carson warned that ISIS could use electromagnetic pulses (generated by detonating an atomic bomb) as well as cyberattacks to destroy the United States. Rubio claimed, "Barack Obama believes that America is an arrogant global power that needs to be cut down to size."

In considering this demagogy, it is necessary to keep in mind that Obama is a ruthless representative of American imperialism, with the blood of tens of thousands on his hands, responsible for continuing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, while adding new ones in Libya, Yemen and Syria, as well as drone warfare on a global scale. In his State of the Union speech he boasted of the global supremacy of the US military, asserting that, when faced with an adversary, "our reach has no limit."

There are few policy differences among the Republican hopefuls. It was particularly noteworthy that only Bush, who is trailing badly in the polls, attempted to criticize Trump's open appeals to anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant prejudice, and even Bush couched his remarks in conciliatory terms.

Referring to Trump's call to ban any Muslims entering the United States, Bush said, "I hope you reconsider this, because this policy is a policy that makes it impossible to build the coalition necessary to take out ISIS. The Kurds are our strongest allies. They're Muslim. You're not going to even allow them to come to our country?"

When the other candidates were asked to comment on Trump's proposed ban on Muslims, each employed the same evasion, declaring opposition to the entry of Syrian refugees into the United States -- Kasich and Christie are among 26 governors, Democratic and Republican, who have filed suit over this. None of them made an issue of the flagrantly unconstitutional character of Trump's proposed ban, or associated calls to create a database of all Muslim residents, which would make possible future mass detentions.

All of the Republican candidates denounced Obama's State of the Union speech, with its delusional picture of a robust American economy with plentiful jobs and restored prospects for working people. But they did so from the standpoint of proposing even more nakedly pro-Wall Street policies, including slashing taxes on the wealthy and corporations, destroying public social services like Medicare, and turning their backs on the conditions of the poor, the homeless, those devastated by the capitalist crisis.

There was, moreover, a sinister undertone to the incessant right-wing populist demagogy. The Republican candidates treated the Democratic Party not merely as a political rival, but as a treasonous and semi-criminal organization. There were clear suggestions that a Democratic victory in the presidential election would be not only undesirable, but illegitimate.

Rubio declared, "Hillary Clinton is disqualified from being commander in chief of the United States." Carson said that if the Republicans lose the 2016 election, "this nation is over as we know it." Cruz's closing statement contained a scarcely veiled appeal for support by the armed forces and police against any opposition, as he declared, "If I am elected president, to every soldier and sailor and airman and marine, and to every police officer and firefighter and first responder who risk their lives to keep us safe, I will have your back."