We’re in the Dog Days of Summer – that time of year when thoughts turn away from the productive to the slothful. Gimme a chaise lounge, a trashy novel, a beer or some iced tea, Dire Straits on my I-Pod and nothing but nothing having anything to do with politics.

Still, a few loose ends need to be tied up before I can snooze in the sun.

Hand in the Cookie Jar

Looks as though State Rep. Roger Goodman, D-45th District, may have stepped into an ethical pile of something smelly. A look at his campaign website reveals that he has posted quite a number of press releases touting his achievements, but generated by state personnel at state expense.

Oops – that’s unlawful, according to an advisory opinion issued by the Legislative Ethics Board.

Former state Rep. Toby Nixon, a Republican running for his old House seat against Goodman (Nixon gave up the seat two years ago in an unsuccessful run for the State Senate) was nicked by this same rule in 2006. Nixon, however, merely posted the text of his releases, while Goodman does a copy and paste of the entire release including the name and contact information for the Democrat media contact in the Legislature.

Including the name and contact information amounts to using legislative staff for campaign purposes, an egregious breaking of the rules.

That Goodman is an attorney makes this all the more of a head-scratching business. Whoever runs his campaign seems to have done a Dog Days checkout already.

Look for an ethics complaint to be filed, and I’m pretty sure I know who will file it – me.

Got Tire Gauge?

Given Democrat Party presumptive nominee Sen. Barack Obama’s energy policy, which centers on inflating your tires and getting a tune-up (who does that anymore?), somebody needs to take up a collection to buy him a gray cardigan sweater.

If he’s going to emulate the failed and forlorn energy policies of Jimmy Carter (turn down your thermostat, then put on a sweater), he should dress like him too. Is there a brother named Billy?

A few weeks ago, oil prices were at an all-time high. But then about a year ago, weren’t housing prices? That bubble burst, so couldn’t the same happen for oil? Gas has gotten cheaper since President Bush announced his intention to allow offshore drilling (did you hear Californians shriek?), so think what might happen if Congress got off the dime, got on board with 70 percent of the American people who favor expanded drilling, and adopted a policy of aggressive domestic energy production from available, but currently off-limits, resources, shale oil, and new exploration.

Couldn’t this also burst what some consider the speculative bubble? Those who bet on the come that domestic oil supplies always will be choked may be headed for their own fall, and with them the price of oil.

People like cars – even people in ultra-blue Washington state. They’re not about to give them up without a fight.

Americans always have succeeded by innovating their way out of difficulties, not by being hindered by limits. Of course, there’s a place for conservation and alternative resources, but we win when we refuse limits while putting brains and muscle to work.

What’s Really Important

In a word: vegetables. The Dog Days also are glory days for home gardeners. Since I am one, I revel in them.

Potatoes, green and wax beans, beets, sunflowers, cabbages, and soon tomatoes – all to die for.

I never plant what can’t be grown well, hence corn, peppers, leafy veggies, or melons aren’t in my raised beds with their built in watering system – that’s what Yakima Fruit Market is for. But what I do grow, I enjoy.

A garden is an oasis of peace and serenity – the perfect place to be during the Dog Days of Summer. If you don’t have one, how do you survive?

Scott St. Clair plays his bagpipe and looks at the world from his Kirkland home. Learn about him at www.scottstclair.com. Reach him at scottstc@comcast.net.