This is a very interesting discussion - way beyond cheating. I think we have to remember that the camera is just a recording tool - mechanical or electronic, and it doesn't see what we see with our eyes. The photographer starts making decisions as soon as he/she picks up a camera - and post processing is just a continuation of those decisions, and as others have mentioned, processing and tweaking photos has always occurred. I mostly use Photoshop to get the shot back to what I think I saw - which is very funny really because I've just had cataracts removed from both my eyes - and now the whole world looks Photoshopped, it's quite exciting really.
I'm totally unintersted in entering competitions but I like looking at other people's photos and give a bit of CC if I think there is something that other people haven't mentioned or if the shot really appeals to me - but that is a totally subjective judgment on my part.