Adapted from a c.l.py report:

class C:
.   def __str__(self):
.       print "a"
.       return "b"
print C()

The output is " a\nb\n" -- note the surprising leading 
space.  This is because PRINT_ITEM forces softspace to 
1 *before* converting the output item (so softspace is 
1 when we get into __str__, despite that nothing yet 
has been written).

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In my bid to reduce the number of unassigned bugs I say: so
what?

print is magical, maybe too magical, but I thought the
consensus was that it's not worth changing.  Having
side-effects in __str__ methods is gross anyway.

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But there's an easy fix for this one, right?

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It should be easier to fix than to argue about, yes.

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Fixed, in

Lib/test/test_softspace.py; new file
Python/ceval.c; new revision: 2.308