Wow. My eyebrows raised when I read that Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) chose to liquidate two of its bankrupt hedge funds in the Cayman Islands, presumably to limit how much cash their bilked investors could recoup.

Then I puzzled over a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed piece (subscription required) flacked out by Bear Stearns' chief economist David Malpass today. The WSJ is infamous for its right-wing nut job opinions (in contrast to its reputation for solid business reporting). But this one was a real Marie Antoinette-channeling doozy:

"Housing and debt markets are not that big a part of the U.S. economy, or of job creation. It's more likely the economy is sturdy and will grow solidly in coming months, and perhaps years."

Funny, but two-thirds of Americans think we're already in a recession, or will be soon, according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll taken last week. But heck, what do I know?

So you really have to hand it to Barry Ritholtz over at The Big Picture, who put it all together and called a spade a spade.

He writes:

"I bet that the idiotic idea for this steaming pile of manure came from way higher up the Bear Stearns food chain. I'll bet he ground his molars down while writing this garbage. Jimmy Cayne must really want to keep his job in the worst way."

That's why I love the Blogosphere. It's where people who do know can tap their chutzpah and tell the world what they think.