Why is a bad market always someone's fault?

[UtahDan]

Finance is admittedly not my area of expertise so those of you who know more jump in and help me with this string of questions I have been mulling over this week:

-Is the hue and cry over "the economy" mostly electioneering (if not in this case then in most cases)? Isn't it the case that in capitalism markets MUST sometimes be down and that this is how competition weeds out the weak? Do we expect that government will keep the market from ever being down? If not, why is someone always to blame for it?

-How much does government really effect the economy? If it is a lot, how much does any politician effect the economy? Can a president really be blamed or credited for economic performance of a nation? Isn't this something much much larger than a government or a president?

-As to our current crisis are guys like Warren Buffet right that we are on the edge of a disaster? What would be the consequences of allowing certain companies, no matter how large, old, or venerated, to simply die? Wouldn't the strong survive or would this devastate the larger system in the long run? Shouldn't the government taking over any private business make be nervous? If we do bail out these lenders, is there something illogical about just handing money to the same people who created the problem?

As I say, I don't fully grasp the big picture and am not adverse to having my money spent to save the system, but skeptical spidey senses are just going crazy over all of this. Someone with a good understanding of this help a brother out.