"Drill, Baby, Drill!"

A reader writes:

The Republican obsession with drilling seems so jarring because it's a glaring example of either the modern GOP's disconnect from reality, or its cynicism, or both. Either a lot of them believe (despite all available evidence to the contrary) that the energy crisis can be significantly ameliorated by offshore and ANWR drilling, simply because they'd like it to be so; or else they think that this is could be a nice wedge issue aimed at the pickup truck set (e.g., "Those guys care more about moose and polar bears than they do that you're paying $4 a gallon for gas.). Or both. Either way, it's clearly a symptom of a party that has no interest in engaging seriously with reality.