I have always though that quote is born of a particularly chicken hearted personality, like a university professor in the humanities or a desk writer in a newspaper. Why would anyone want to be a pinworm to power? You can never, never, usefully speak to those whose chief claim in life is the possession of power. What you can do is verbally kick them in the teeth, if you have what it takes to do that. People who have power use it to advance themselves and become, if they do not start out greedy, unscrupulous, envious, and malicious.
All that makes them pretty anxious and easily alarmed. Call them out for what they are, cruel , lying bastards. You might get a change, by that, though a small one. Well, you know the Chinese saying about a single step.