Along with her mention of Seligman's learned helplessness research, this was
especially interesting:

"To create a dependency dynamic between him and the electorate, Bush
describes the nation as being in a perpetual state of crisis and then
attempts to convince the electorate that it is powerless and that he is the
only one with the strength to deal with it. He attempts to persuade people
they must transfer power to him, thus crushing the power of the citizen, the
Congress, the Democratic Party, even constitutional liberties, to
concentrate all power in the imperial presidency and the Republican Party."

If I didn't know better, I'd think this sort of approach came from the
action heroes we see in movies, video games and comic books.