G'day Mark R,
But that is beside the point. It still hasn't been explained why the Arbitrators were selected as the main repositories of these powers. Does the removal of revisions crop up frequently in arbitrations undertaken by the ArbCom? Or has the ArbCom somehow morphed into something more than an Arbitration Committee, to be some sort of Content Management Committee?
The Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines 'arbitrator' as "an independent person or body officially appointed to settle a dispute".
I suspect it was at least partly because of the precedent of checkuser being given to the more technically-minded arbitres. As such, it would be a classic case of always-logical steps which nonetheless lead us away from our original intent.
I think we should keep limits on the power of ArbCom, not least for the peace of mind of the arbitres themselves. They --- I assume --- don't want to end up being the go-to guys any time someone is required to exercise power on Wikipedia. If this goes on, it could lead to arbitres being required to accept an awesome amount of responsibility --- more than they currently hold, and more than they signed up for.
But one could ask "if not them, then who?" Well, in the specific case of Oversight, why not bureaucrats? After all, it's harder to become a bureaucrat than it is to serve on ArbCom, which should give some indication of the level of community trust held there. It's also often been pointed out that, given the difficulty in becoming a bureaucrat, the actual difference between a B and an admin is very little.
Cheers,