Right wingers feel it’s their God-given right to waste as much energy as they possibly can, just for the sheer hell of it. But if the price goes up as the supply goes down, or if uncertainty about supply drives prices up, they scream bloody murder and blame it on President Obama. (To be precise, they blame everything bad that happens in the entire universe on Obama.)

If Obama says he can’t do anything in the short run to lower prices, they scream, “He says we just have to get used to it!”

Well, Obama never said those words, of course; he said today, “There’s no silver bullet that can bring down gas prices right away.” (Here’s how it works: one wingnut misrepresents what Obama says, then all of them parrot the misrepresentation, then it becomes an impervious article of right wing faith.)

The President didn’t say it, for political reasons, but I will. Yes, you’re going to have to get used to paying more for gas. America has enjoyed an artificially low price on gasoline for many years, while the rest of the world paid for it. Those days are coming to an end, and the only way forward is to break our dependence on fossil fuels.