If eight years of Dubya were not enough, the prospect of Sarah Palin attaining a position of real power convinces me that democracy, despite being the best that we presently have, is fatally flawed as a system of governance.

If you aspire to become a doctor, a scientist, an electrician or a hairdresser, you have to gain the respective qualifications by hard work and study. In contrast, to become the most powerful individual in the world, with your finger on the nuclear button, you simply have to persuade a largely uninformed electorate to cast their vote in your favour. Why aren't politicians required to have a Ph.D or equivalent in politics, history, economics etc before before being eligible to run for office?

I, for one, look forward to having a benign and impartial megacomputer in charge of the Earth ;-)