Just wanted to point out for anyone using py2exe that it apparently doesn't always (or maybe ever) raise AssertionErrors. It's been a while since they've updated the program so it's probably just easier to implement a workaround for those of us who use this compiler. I've noticed it not raising the error in a variety of circumstances. Here's the workaround I implemented.
python 2.7.2
py2exe 0.6.9
def _assert(assertion):
# workaround for py2exe not
# raising assertion errors
if not assertion:
raise AssertionError
ps please don't lecture me on why I shouldn't use assert
