Probably, we can introduce syntactic sugar for "if not equal" comparison? Not only for "is not None" check, but for comparison with any expression.

Something like:

x = foo if 'value': bar

equal to :

x = foo if foo != 'value' else bar

so, expression:

x = foo if foo is not None else bar

become:

x = foo if None: bar

That syntax does not use new keywords or operators, looks pythonic and simplify most common "is not None" expression.