Again, I couldn’t agree more with every word you type, with two additions: it perplexes me, too, but rather than drive myself nuts over it, I stick with what LBJ told the young Billy Don Moyers (as he still called himself) in 1964, not far from where I now sit. I take it you know the quotation in question; am I right? If I’m mistaken I can share the quote with you as it’s seared into my memory.
Second addition is this observation: it’s plenty harder to seek and exercise even a small amount of real power. It’s much easier to FEEL powerful. It enables one to forget one’s real lack of power if only for a short while.