[mrangle]

Because they are guilty of doing these things for decades is the precise and only extremely solid reason that anyone needs to assume. Anything less is the behavior of the type of person who frequently gets victimized by sociopaths, and likes it for some reason. The pattern means that it isn't an assumption at all.

If you need an ever so slightly deeper history of it, here's a brief history of the Spartan equivalent engaging in parallel behavior:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypteia