Yeah, I guess that makes more sense than an anology. But I just realised that sysops have another, rarely used power. Sysops have power just from their name "sysop". If a sysop tells a bunch of non-sysops something, and they haven't heard the type of conversation on the mailing list (ie don't know that sysops aren't this exclusive band of 5 people who go around fixing the server and banning people), they'd probably listen to you more than a non-sysop. I don't think this power is actually used by anyone other than jimbo, though.
This kind of intimidation works only on folks who know part of the story, know that there are sysops and administrators but don't know their limitations. As a sysop (provided you follow the rules) is does no good at all in a dispute. Definitely not something you want to pull out and wave around during an edit war you are involved in yourself.
Fred