The Python standard library has gotten worse over time, as it got loaded up with more and more features, obfuscating the common use cases. The irony now is that to do simple, everyday things (like http requests) you are now better off installing a third party package like "requests" than using the standard library. So much for "batteries included."
The standard library needs a reboot. Why not do it in Python 3? Nobody's using it yet anyway ;-)