str.startswith and str.endswith should accept multiple arguments when passing in strings. This makes it easier to check if the first character of a string is one of a given option, versus this awkward ...
Well, if it is judged a bug (and it seems to me that it is), then it can get fixed in 2.7 and 3.2 (and yes I did confirm that the same bug is present in 2.7). It appears to be the result of startswith ...