The problem is that I agree with most of the PEP-8 rules most of the time.  There are occasional exceptions. 

For example if I had lots of similar equations I might want to highlight their shared structure as in the following

Python
```
f  =   (x * y)    + z
f2 =   (x * y)**2 - z
f3 = - (x * y)    - z
f4 = - (x * y)**2 - z
```

In general I really appreciate consistent spacing around arithmetic operators.  In this particular case though creative spacing really helps to highlight shared structure and make the difference between the lines very clear.  We shouldn't except arithmetic spacing as a whole, we should except this block.

I'd like to table this discussion until it's forced.  I hope that we can avoid it for a good long while.