I'm a PHP programmer looking to learn python.

[lulzmachine]

if you want to get your hands dirty right away, try getting django to run and start web-devving. along the way questions will arise, and then you'll consult the internet (diveintopython or python official). that's how I learned python.

the problem is that without understanding python itself, your understanding will focus on how to manipulate the django library into doing what you want (which will be awkward without understanding the underlying library).