I find python revolting to look at. I find Pyhton web frameworks confounding to work with. I find PHP to be the most enjoyable language to write web based applications in. PHP just never enters into the discussion of languages but all of it's shortcomings are peripheral to the experience of actually writing code. Minor version upgrades often break things being my biggest gripe.
To folk claiming PHP is to programming what white bread is to a healthy colon, I say that you are the inferior programmer for not being able to love it.
My claim is this: PHP (and most certainly Perl) are to web application development what paint is to painting.
Web application frameworks written in Ruby and Python are to web programming what paint by numbers is to painting.
You're missing my point - a great language (whatever it may be for one's choice) doesn't get in the way of thinking clearly. If that's PHP for you, that's great.
I never mentioned any context of web in my statement. Au contraire, python's greatest strength is in its vast number of libraries for non-web stuff as well (though it can handle a lot of web stuff very easily). I find python's vast science and math packages to be very handy.
Your paint by number analogy doesn't really apply.
PHP, or Python, or Perl, as a language are to web applications what paint is to painting. CakePHP, or Symfony, or Rails, or Django is to web applications what paint + scaffolding + tarpaulins + masking tape + ladders is to painting.
Yes, you can build a ladder in the programming language you like, or you can just import one (or, in many cases, not have to) with a framework. They both still use paint, and I completely disagree with the assertion that a framework tells you where or what kind of paint to put -- it just puts you closer to the walls, and makes the application of said paint a little easier.
For the record, I personally consider an application framework more like a Wagner spray painter, or something more like that, but I think that's more dependent on the framework itself. Yes, there are constraints with frameworks, but there are significant advantages to speed of development.
As for the whole PHP vs Python, I'm completely ignoring, since you seem to be conflating PHP vs 'application frameworks in other languages' instead of PHP vs 'another language', which is unfair at best, and ill-informed at worst. For what it's worth, I'd put either Ruby or Python up as a general purpose language above PHP any day of the week, and PHP is the language I learned to program on (and still like, despite its unpopularity.)
To folk claiming PHP is to programming what white bread is to a healthy colon, I say that you are the inferior programmer for not being able to love it.
My claim is this: PHP (and most certainly Perl) are to web application development what paint is to painting.
Web application frameworks written in Ruby and Python are to web programming what paint by numbers is to painting.