Python identifiers, PEP 8, and consistency

It is obvious that there is a tradeoff. The problem is, I've seen people say "there is a tradeoff, therefore the status quo is fine." But that's a non sequitur. The fact that a tradeoff exists has nothing to do with the question of whether or not the status quo is at the right point of that tradeoff. Arguments should be grounded in the specific facts of each individual case, and you almost never see that when people start bringing out the "foolish consistency" quote.