Shoot with a polarizing filter and expose for the most important part of the scene.
A polarizing filter is great to darken the sky and to to add contrast, but it works best with the Rayleigh scattering in the blue sky and not so good for an evenly gray gray sky - at least, that is my experience.
I really love your rant of the day 😎
Seriously, there are limits to what you can do after the shot, unless you want to go the whole PS route but then that really isn't photography is it?
Teaching and researching computer vision and image processing is my job, so it is natural for me to explore the limits of these algorithms. But you are perfectly right. The best way to great photos is to take care when taking the photos and get the best shot possible.
Image processing and enhancement will never turn a poor shot into a masterpiece, but it can help to add finishing touches to a great picture.
Or to restore badly decayed old photos, etc.
Only sometimes there is no way to repeat a shot or to wait for better weather or the right light, and then I am very happy I have Aperture and don't have any longer to go into a darkroom and don't have to do the image processing with chemicals, and blinds, and filters.