This is worse than a mistake. It’s hubris.

Even Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s 1818 horror classic regrets constructing his monster: “Would you also create for yourself and the world a demoniacal enemy? Peace. Peace. Learn my miseries and do not seek to increase your own.”

Think of a person that neither poops nor dies, does not need doctors or schools or diapers or houses, catches no H1N1 viruses, and does not wake these gowned officials up at night with teething or with adolescent woes: A person with a proper attitude toward money and authority. A person that’s all theory, no needy flesh, no messy bones.

Already a public relations firm, Murray Hill Incorporated, has announced its candidacy for Congress, according to the New York Times. On a campaign video, the company promises to bring “enlightened self-interest and corporate accounting to government.” The company says it will enter a primary election for a Maryland Congressional seat, according to its website. A statement on the website indicates the corporation plans to use “automated robo-calls, ‘Astroturf’ lobbying and computer-generated avatars to get out the vote.”

I imagine the move is tongue-in-cheek, but consider the possibilities: Maybe the Supreme Court will go further and grant corporations the ballot, perhaps limiting the rest of us to three-fifths of a vote apiece. Or perhaps do a 50-to-one reverse split and grant us even less.

All this makes me ponder: My dog Porschy is born in the U.S. She has rights, too. (She wants the right to bare teeth.) I am looking into incorporating her in Delaware. Votes for dogs!

P.S. See the Supreme Court’s decision.

Here are a few direct responses from Buckdata: Palin is not a team player. She disagrees with McCain about oil drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge. She said so. In the event of her succession to the presidency, would she carry out McCain’s policies? She already likely has plans for expanding the vice presidency.  She said at the debate that the  U.S. Constitution allows this: “I’m thankful that the Constitution would allow a bit more authority given to the vice president…. Well, our founding fathers were very wise there in allowing through the Constitution much flexibility there in the office of the vice president. And we will do what is best for the American people in tapping into that position….”

Palin does not understand how things work or even perceive the need for that understanding. Witness her discussion of climate change. Palin said she would act on its impacts but did not want to “argue about the causes.”

She was not willing to deal thoughtfully and respectfully with the questions posed by the debate moderator standing in for the American people, stating that she preferred to address them directly.  As vice president or president, she would likely choose which questions to answer, or not, as baldly as she did in the debate.

We are already weary of those who smirk, glare, wink, and refuse to account for themselves thoughtfully. We don’t need any more on the public payroll. And, regardless of gender, we cannot–especially at a time of economic crisis–afford a chief executive (or even deputy chief executive) who cannot understand cause and effect.

For additional commentary on the debate, see Don Monkerud’s astute analysis, “Are you Ready for President Palin?”

Watch the debate again, readers. Ponder it somberly.

Another dimension of Palin’s character was not explored at the debate, however: Palin lacks compassion for those in different circumstances. On her blog, Fierce Desire, author and artist Judith Pierce Rosenberg explores an additional issue very important to women that the debate never touched on.