Authority

Again, the Devil took him to very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, "all these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me."

-Matthew 4: 8-9 (NRSV)

Our national history with authoritarians and dictators has been checkered at best.  We like to think of ourselves as the beacon of democracy and freedom in the world, but the fact of the matter is that we can be rather complacent when it comes to strongmen.  The history we have had with the recently deceased Manuel Noriega is a case in point.  We set him up, because it seemed critical to our interests to have a stable nation controlling the Panama Canal, which is a major boon to ocean-going trade.  Then he got out of our control and so we had to take him down.  Likewise Saddam Hussein, because I paid attention in social studies class in high school, I first learned about the noble cause of the Iraqi people, bravely fighting against the brutal theocracy of Ayatollah Khomeni in Iran.  Saddam Hussein, beret clad, mustachioed, military man, versus the black turban and intense maniacal stare of a madman.  Then as it turned out, things took a sideways bounce and all of the sudden Saddam was not our buddy any more.
Ferdinand Marcos, Pol Pot, Rodrigo Duterte, Idi Amin, and let's not forget the Saudi Royals and all their sweet, sweet oil, we have not exactly distinguished ourselves in picking our friends.  We seem to not mind going to the dance with the school bully one little bit, as long as we think they serve our interests.  Which is why I suppose Trump's authoritarian posture is not quite as shocking to many of us as perhaps it should be.  After all, the logic that told us Saddam Hussein was a good guy because he managed to hold Iraq together or that Duterte is a good guy because he's cracking down on drugs, also tells us that if our own authoritarian can "make America great again," why not give him a shot?
I have read a lot of articles recently that wonder out loud how many Trump voters can still steadfastly support him, even after the plentiful blunders, embarrassing faux pas, and undiplomatic tweeting.
I think the answer lies in the fact that they were not actually duped, as some commentators would like to believe.  They actually knew exactly what they were voting for: a loud, crude and hopefully strong lead dog.  I think that the reason the Steve Bannon's of the world believe in Trump is not just because he could be a tool of their xenophobic nationalism, but because he is a walking, talking advertisement for alpha male mythology, which is perhaps an even deeper core conviction of the Alt-Right/Breitbart crowd than simple prejudice or racism.
The Strongman is a powerful lure to those who feel (rightly or wrongly) set upon by the establishment, whether they are leftists freaking out about Big Brother or rightists railing about the liberal elites, there is something in our nature that takes a perverse sort of pleasure in having some version of "the man" to blame for our woes.  The appeal of Trump, as near as I can come to describing it (because it doesn't resonate with me), is that he promised to be the deal-maker and the voice of the forgotten Americans.  Never mind that his deals were borderline delusions, never mind that he actually has very little understanding of what his constituents really want and need from their government, it doesn't matter, because he's going to make us great again, we don't need details.
That is the lure of the false messiah: you don't need to worry, the great one is going to make it all better, and you're not going to have to do the work, all you have to do is worship him, put your trust in him.  Over the past month or so I have run across the reality that Jesus' disciples kept trying and trying to get him to be that kind of messiah, the kind that would topple the principalities and powers and magically put them on the top, where we all think we belong.
Jesus steadfastly refused to be that sort of messiah.  Donald Trump has wholeheartedly embraced that call, and disturbingly a whole bunch of people claiming to represent the Body of Christ, have welcomed him in a big bro-hug.
I find myself at least a little grateful to this season in our politics, because I feel like the masks have been dropped.  I admit, it's reaching a bit for something to be thankful for, but I have hope that maybe we will finally see that strongmen, and false messiahs will lead us nowhere.  As for me, I am trying to learn something important about these false messiahs, because I do not doubt that some day, maybe soon, a messiah will come along who resonates with my own vanity and blindness, maybe he or she will be the anti-trump, but that will not prevent them from being the anti-Christ, if they offer us the same deal: worship me and I will give you the world.  I've heard that deal somewhere before.