Apparently the PEP authors decided to punt on what they call "algebraic matching" of repeated names. IMNSHO, if this PEP isn't doing algebraic matching then it's really far from clear what it's for, ...

we chose a simpler rule: named constants are only recognized when referenced via some namespace, such as `mod.var` or `Color.RED` Oh, come on... That is even more awful than using cryptic special ...