pip and distutils2-1.0a4

[Mark H. Harris]

hi folks,

I am having a fit with pip this afternoon.  I finally
got pip installed on this system from a binary 
blob (what nightmare, talk about 1987). Anyway,
pip is installed, but when I go to PyPI to pull 
down distutils is gives a message that no such
package exists.   I feel like Obeewan;  "if the archive
computer says your planet is not there, it simply
does not exist".
Can somebody tell me what is the best way to get
distutils downloaded to this system?
Thanks in advance.
Somewhere I heard a rumor that distutils is preloaded
with Py3.3.x /  is this True?  like, I might already have 
it??
thanks again
marcus