The basic power discrepancy in plagiarism cases

The final line of a post How Plagiarism Happens at the Atlantic by Ta-Nehisi Coates:

What you see is something rather common in American life, wherein power allows for seemingly iron rules to turn to rubber.

Yes, the outcome of the Fareed Zakaria matter was foreseeable in terms of the previous cases involving Laurence Tribe, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and SIU President Glenn Poshard.

A quote from Poshard in 2012: “If I had committed intentional plagiarism, I wouldn’t be the president here today or anyplace else."