Seriously, Mr. Bush?

I’ve never been one to jump all over our current, linguistically-challenged president when he’s misused words or destroyed the meaning of what he was trying to say with a clumsy delivery.  The man is not a good speaker — that’s obvious.  I’m also well-aware that President Bush has very few deep philosophical convictions about governing.  He indicated as much, during his first campaign for the White House, when he sold himself as a “pragmatist” (something more philosophically rooted conservatives interpret as lacking true principles).  However, I did believe he had at least some understanding of the philosophical basis for many of the decisions he’s made.  But a recent comment, from the president, in a FoxNews interview made me question if the guy really had any idea what he was saying.  Here’s the quote:

“I’m a free-market guy. But I’m not going to let this economy crater in order to preserve the free-market system.”

Uh… what?  If you’re a “free-market guy,” then it means you believe the “free-market system” is best for fixing problems in the economy.  Think about that quote.  He’s basically saying that he believes in free-market economics, except for when he doesn’t.

Perhaps I shouldn’t be too hard on the president.  It seems our entire country, including lots of big-time “free-market guys,” are ready to abandon the free-market system in order to save the economy (or themselves).  Generally speaking, we’ve become economically backward.  The beauty and genius of the free-market system is that it is so dynamic.  Sure, the system allows spectacular failures to occur.  But it also allows for spectacular successes (and moderate ones, as well).  The system encourages taking risks (risking failure) in order to produce success.

Either you believe in the free market or you don’t.  I do.  I believe that the pain we’re feeling now will lead to numerous opportunities and the eventual emergence of new, dynamic, and healthy businesses.  In the case of the auto industry, I believe that even if the so-called worst case scenario comes to pass, and one (or more) of the “Big 3″ collapses, it will not be the end of the auto industry in America.  Although GM, Ford, and Chrysler have all lost market share over the years, they still hold a huge percentage of the overall market.  If, for example, GM were to fail tomorrow, they would leave a huge void for other companies to fill.  Perhaps the fastest way to do so would be to buy up portions of GM, hire many of their former workers, and leverage their production capacity to supply more cars — maybe even by continuing to build some of GM’s current line.  And that’s just one possibility.  The point is that the free market will find solutions, if it is allow to be free.  And the president should know this.