Every so often I'll listen to conservative talk radio. I'm not quite sure what it is that keeps me coming back. I guess listening gives me a real sense of just how insane the right can be; like a sort of lunacy threshold. In other words, tuning in gives me an idea of what's really going on. I know that seems dismissive, and I typically try to avoid political ranting, but sometimes these people just blow my mind.

For instance, in the 15 minutes I spent in the car this morning, I learned that Barack and Michelle Obama are radical activist, secret Muslims.

I also learned that illegal immigrants are stealing jobs (yawn), and that it is ok to destroy animal habitats for oil.

Over the last month or so, I've learned that the "gay agenda" is destroying America, that Barack Obama's willingness to TALK to our enemies indicates a flaw in his character, that we should go into all corners of the Middle East and take our oil, and that an SUV is an American man's god-given right.

Whew.

What struck me most this morning, however, was the particular scrutiny paid to Obama's recent "Marxist" words on gas prices. They went something like this:

Barack Obama: I think that... we have been slow to move in a better direction when it comes to energy usage. And the president, frankly, hasn't had an energy policy. And as a consequence we've been consuming energy as if it's infinite. We now know that our demand is badly outstripping supply with China and India growing as rapidly as they are.

CNBC's John Harwood: So could the (high) oil prices help us?

Barack Obama: I think that I would have preferred a gradual adjustment. The fact that this is such a shock to American pocketbooks is not a good thing. But if we take some steps right now to help people make the adjustment, first of all by putting more money in their pockets, but also by encouraging the market to adapt to these new circumstances more rapidly, particularly U.S. automakers...

Now, I'm not an economist, and I'm certainly not a politician, but I believe I'm smart enough to know that gas prices aren't coming down. And to continue to go around and around about how gas prices are killing the consumer, and how price is the ONLY issue at the pump is misguided and downright foolish. Yes we want cheaper fuel, but it seems to me that Obama is the only candidate who realizes that we will never get there with the type of fuel, or at least the amount of fuel we're using now. Drilling wont fix the problem and neither will war.

I gather from his speech that he recognizes the unavoidable hike in gas prices as the only viable incentive to get real energy policy instated, and to get Americans pursuing alternative fuel sources and buying more fuel-efficient vehicles. And in that way, yes, I too believe that higher energy prices can help us. I'm glad to see at least one of our presidential candidates is truly attuned to reality.