Why did anyone ever walk into the Gemini Lounge or accept abuse from Tony Mirra or be silent as Gotti threatened to blow up their house? Why didn't Favara just kill Gotti once it became apparent that forgiveness wasn't part of Gotti's makeup?

I think it's because not only were people like that violently intimidating but they had at various points in time, hundreds of people behind them. So if you kill one, you would have to kill a whole bunch. And you'd never know who, when or where someone would be after you. Now is that preferable to being killed yourself? Well yes. But most people aren't killers and probably hoped right up until the last minute that it wouldn't happen to them.

If you're one of Mad Sam's victims I would bet that you didn't really know about his formal standing in the Outfit or his relationship or lack thereof with other gangsters. All you would know is that he's a vicious SOB and the police either can't do anything about him or work with him.