No one (or hardly anyone) considers “stubbornness” a virtue, but for many people, it magically morphs into one when people portray it as something else, such as “keeping a promise.” Case in point: when Tom McClintock ran for governor in 2003, it soon became apparent that he had absolutely no chance of winning, and that the only thing his candidacy might accomplish was to split the Republican vote and allow N-Word Bustamante to win on a plurality. Nevertheless, rather than do what every other serious politician did whose numbers were as abysmal as McClintock’s, McClintock got in a huff and said:

“I made a promise to people when I entered this race that I would be in it to the finish line, and I keep my promises,” he said in an interview with CNN’s John King on Thursday. “When I make a promise, I stand by that promise. I’m in this race to the finish line.”

La-de-frickin’ da. He “made a promise” to unnamed people (read: himself), and somehow, that means he’s not a stubborn jerk, but a promise keeper! Neato. Fortunately, in this case it was no harm no foul, as Schwarzenegger won handily despite his “help” from McClintock - which, given the unusual nature of a recall election, may have actually helped after all. Not so for Promise Keeper #2, Michael Schiavo, who may or may not have promised Terri Schiavo that he would starve her to death if she ever became incapacitated, but clearly promised that to himself so many times he lost any sense of concern for her family. Even in the end, when he finally got his way and the bitch finally died, he couldn’t leave bad enough alone. Rather than purchase a typical headstone reading “Terri Schiavo, R.I.P.” or some such, he had to use her headstone as a soapbox for himself, adding inscription reading:

“I’m a stubborn prick, and she’s finally dead now. Hoo ha!”

Or words to that effect. But of course those words didn’t include the s-word. Stubborn bad, promise keeping, good.

Enter Promise Keeper #3, rugby fan Geoffrey Huish. Unlike McClintock and Schiavo’s private promises to themselves, this guy’s promise is verifiable as having been made to a third party, although that fact appears to remain unverified as yet. According to Huish, he told his friend Gethin Probert before a recent game that his team, Wales, didn’t have a chance of winning, adding that he, Huish, would cut his balls off if they did. Well, his team won all right - and Huish kept his promise (h/t: Dean). Someone give this promise keeping champion a prize! Oh wait, they already have a prize for this sort of thing: it’s called a Darwin Award. Dean nominated him already, and I second that nomination.

UPDATE: On a similar note, our neighbor to the north is stuck with a castrated leader, and I hate the creep. I didn’t mean that. I just said it.