Presidential debates just got a little less futile, thanks to the senator from Texas.

Steve Guest reports:

Ted Cruz blasted CNBC’s moderators for their questions during the GOP debate Wednesday night.

Cruz criticized the crew for asking the very questions that “illustrate why the American people don’t trust the media.”

“How about talking about the substantive issues people care about?”

I’ve been waiting a long time for someone who isn’t Donald Trump to say something like this during a debate, and I’m hardly alone. Tough questions are one thing, but endless variations on “When did you stop beating your wife?” are another. The candidates are supposed to debate each other, not the moderators.

Carl Quintanilla wasn’t asking a question. He was making a flat statement of opinion and daring his opponent to disagree. His fellow “moderators,” John Harwood and Becky Quick, did the same thing. This was their big chance to make their mark by yelling at the mean ol’ Republicans, and they did their worst.

I’m sure Cruz is already being accused of “working the refs.” Well, I’ve never seen a basketball game where a ref blatantly shoves the players and sneers, “Whaddaya gonna do about it?” Cruz shoved back, and it’s about time.

And Carl Quintanilla can’t even play the race card.

Reince Priebus is ticked off at the moderators’ behavior, but I don’t know why he’s surprised. He okayed them, right? Didn’t he know who and what they are?

Besides, Priebus should be glad that CNBC did away with any pretense of objectivity. Nothing brings people together like a common enemy, and the MSM is no longer pretending to be anything but our enemy.

I wonder how many viewers last night were watching CNBC for the very first time? I’ll take a wild guess and say 100%. And roughly the same number didn’t see anything that made them want to come back.

P.S. Speaking of tough questions: Is John Harwood a shameless liar, a bumbling incompetent, or both?