All best wishes to a Seattle police officer recovering from a traffic collision that left the community howling for explanations.

The accident, blamed on a playful puppy distracting the driver, has Seattle City Hall wondering if young dogs should be banned from automobiles.
What do you think, should puppies join cell phones on the list of items stricken from cars? One idea is to bag frisky pets while a vehicle is in motion. Interesting, but some worry the proposal conflicts with a new ordinance to discourage use of plastic grocery sacks.

An early, emotional suggestion to require dogs under one year be sedated has no support. Though in a city with more dogs than kids, mandatory sedation is being considered for two-year-old children on buses.

Others would link annual license tab renewals to Seattle dog owners installing canine seats or doggie-shoulder restraints. They are already required by several Scandinavian municipalities. Obedience classes for transported dogs, funded by a six-year levy, might be an alternative.
Nothing is ever easy. There is debate the levy might work better in 2010 when pet owners will see plans for a dog run on the Viaduct.

Barack Obama leaves his Republican nemesis, John McCain, choking on dust by offering up pragmatic, proactive solutions for getting the U.S. out of one war and preventing full-scale eruption of a second. What if Obama trained some of that wattage on another vexing problem?