"Bernake doesn't seem to be inflating anything. I don't think he can."

He is inflating the money supply, and that is all that will matter eventually. Banks are failing, yes, asset prices are dropping, yes, but the money supply is growing by 15-17% year over year for the past two years. It has been growing by over 10% year over year for the better part of the last two decades. Those extra dollars are coming home to roost.

If a company issued 15% more stock per year at the same time it was losing revenue, would you expect the value of that stock to go up?

The U.S. is issuing 15% more stock in our country (dollars) per year as it is losing revenue. The value of those dollars are certainly not going to go up. In deflation, the value of dollars rises in real terms.

Hysteria