Aargh. I need to think more about whether I even want this. Doesn't PEP 3100 have a ? near that item? Everything with a ? needs to be reconsidered before implemented. Add a ? if it's not already there for this issue. Sorry.
Looks good, check it in (and update PEP 3100 please). Were there no other places where intern() is actually *used* in the stdlib? Amazing! Can I convince you to also contribute a fixer for the sandbox/2to3 refactoring tool?