It probably isn’t true that CNBC asked the Republican candidates to wear a metal plate with a number around their necks and face the camera, no smiles allowed. But this was less a debate, with the otherwise able CNBC reporters and analysts teasing out the candidates’ views on economic issues, than it was an attempt to stimulate candidates to attack one another or, failing that, to embarrass them. “Appalling … obnoxious…” commented Charles Krauthammer.

Ms. Fiorina, explain how you wrecked Hewlett Packard. Mr. Trump, tell us about your companies’ bankruptcies, and by the way, are you running “a comic book” version of a campaign? Mr. Rubio, why did you need your “windfall”–the term these financial savants use to describe royalties from a book–to avoid foreclosure on your second home, and why are you missing so many votes in the Senate? Dr. Carson, isn’t it hypocritical for you to serve on the board of Costco, a company that covers benefits for partners in a same-sex marriage? Governor Bush, why are you failing to register higher in the polls? Governor Huckabee, you question the morality of people on the coasts; do you think Trump, from New York, has the moral authority to unite the country?