Instead, Mr. Murdoch took the opportunity to reassert his control of the company.
The ceasefire will give relative moderates both within the regime and among the opposition an opportunity to reassert themselves.
But it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the country's so-called "deep state" has simply taken the opportunity to reassert itself.
Their first opportunity to reassert themselves on the ground will come against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday in the season opener.
And longtime hosts like Mr. Limbaugh know that the incoming Democratic administration represents an opportunity to reassert talk radio's relevance.
A whirl of deal-making and diplomacy, from Tokyo to New Delhi, is giving the United States an opportunity to reassert itself in a region where its eclipse by China has been viewed as inevitable.
Still, the Brits are awfully excited about this one, which is likely to present them the opportunity to reassert dominion over their former subjects, and those farther west, in the realm of the Oscars.
It has given Russia the opportunity to reassert its view of geopolitics, arguing against international efforts to remove undesirable governments from power, as the United States and its allies did in Libya.
But rising frictions between China and its neighbors in recent weeks over security issues have handed the United States an opportunity to reassert itself — one the Obama administration has been keen to take advantage of.
Immediately after the burnt offering had been completed, Samuel appeared (perhaps waiting for such an opportunity to reassert his leading position) and castigated Saul for overstepping the boundaries of his princely prerogatives even though Saul had been more than patient.
