That's usually the case, where somoene takes your tools to be able to do your job away then they figure out that they made you handicapped.  But that is really not enough, it has to hurt their bottom line and disrupt the business in order for them to realize they made a decision without really thinking of the consequences.  They have to come to the realization that you are not the enemy and that you are there to help them do exactly what they are trying to accomplish.  But this is true...we have to play politics.... I have learned that the better you are with dealing with politics in your company, the more you are able to get done.  There's no way around the politics.