Python, as per Guido Van Rossum's wishes, is pushing for suspension of all language syntax and built-in changes and work towards preserving semantics, precisely for giving time to alternative implementations time to catch up with CPython, as well as the various distributions to catch up with Python's recent progress.
In short: "...have killed Python" is a hyperbole for saying "I was tired to hear people nagging about dependency on Python". Still, it's a very good thing what Shaw did.
The solution to distros which are bundling three year old software is not to halt your progress for three years, that should be obvious.
Speaking as Django's release manager: Red Hat's continued use and support of ancient 2.x Python versions has been a factor in the schedule we're developing for migration to Python 3.x. We can't simply pull the rug out from under anyone who's using Django on RHEL.
Seeing RHEL/CentOS keep coming up led me to some googling and the first result for "RHEL python" is http://www.python.org/download/linux/ (about as official as it gets) which says
The IUS Community Project maintains recent versions of Python for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and CentOS. Installations are parallel installed next to stock versions of python therefore don't disrupt the functionality of critical python utilities on the system.
Doesn't that solve the issue and keep you from being hamstrung by those distros?
Not quite, because not everyone will install that stuff, or will be able to get approval from their higher-ups to install it (folks who run RHEL tend to be pretty conservative...).
In short: "...have killed Python" is a hyperbole for saying "I was tired to hear people nagging about dependency on Python". Still, it's a very good thing what Shaw did.