Opinion---"Batteries included" doesn't mean "a bewildering variety of 
functions".  Nor does it mean "my programming language has a checklist  
of features" such as I recall the spreadsheet and word processor wars of 
the (19)80's.  Python should indeed make it easy to express your 
algorithms.  It does this through readable syntax, by providing 
container objects of all sorts, with malleable classes.  It gives access 
to operating system and hardware.  Python stays current with softwares 
of the day.  But Python should remain small It's okay to write some 
code.

Must regular expression syntax keep pace with that of perl?  Probably, 
only because the expressions are directly cut and pasteable.  Otherwise, 
the re language has for me exceeded in complexity that which can be had 
more simply with a divide and conquer approach.

Is there a good reason to have the math module duplicate the 
functionality described in math.h?  No.  One needn't know the c language 
exists to program python.  (Historically it was a great and obvious 
first access to math functions in python.  We're years beyond that.  
Hence---generalize hypot.  It's brain dead trapped in 2D!)

Don't accept the challenge for a python vs. (for instance) ruby feature 
checklist.  Python should stick to the sensible.