Server Aliases/linked Servers Cause Remote Queries

Can someone please shed some light on what seems to me to be a common requirement.

If I create an alias or linked server to Server1 - say Alias1 - on Server1 and then use that name in a query on Server1, a remote/distributed query is always used (even though we are running on the local server and that overhead is completely unnecessary).

Is SQL Server really not capable of deciding that
select * from Alias1.db1.dbo.table1
and
select * from Server1.db1.dbo.table1
should be optimized and executed exactly the same when Alias1 is Server1, but that it is a distributed query ONLY when Alias1 is really referring to a remote server? I realize that the four part name is not necessary when I am referring to objects on the current server, but I am trying to write code that is server instance independent.

It just seems that if that is not possible, then the only way to create system independent stored procs that can run in dev, staging, and production environments and work with multiple databases on multiple servers is to create all sorts of scripts to regenerate all the procs whenever you move a database between servers?

If SQL Server is even close to the enterprise big iron server that MS now claims it is, it surely needs to support running in dev, staging, and production environments and work with multiple databases on multiple servers?!

I'm really looking for someone to tell me I'm missing something simple, and of course you can do this - but complex workarounds are invited too :-)
This is not something I am investigating as an academic exercise, I am already doing this, but I have to figure out how to do it better because with all these unnecessary distributed queries, performance is horrible.