He don't put up with no shit from nobody.
He's a hard-charging, take-charge kind of guy.
He cuts right to the chase, he don't pussy-foot around.
He tells it like it is.
He'll tell it to your face.
He kicks ass first and takes names later.
He cuts through the red tape.
He doesn't suffer fools kindly.
He's not above smashing a few heads together when he has to.

I could go on, but I think you see the pattern. Americans want a strong leader, someone who will make things happen, someone with authority and respect. They have only contempt for caution, deliberation, patience, dialogue, compromise, finesse. Introspection, subtlety and nuance are just fancy words for indecision, cowardice and appeasement. Empathy is just another word for weakness.

Listen to Rush sometime. Listen closely. Can you hear the vitriol, the hate, the sneer, the cruelty? Oh sure, he may be just an aberration, he may even be just doing it all for show and not take it too seriously himself; but the point is people listen to him and they shiver with delight at what he says, and especially, how he says it. Lots of people listen.

Americans talk a lot about freedom and liberty and independence, but they really crave the strong hand of the authoritarian leader--the Tough Guy, Boss, Big Brother. We used to play baseball, now we watch the NFL.