Up Close and Personal With the Bush Twins in Buenos Aires

The girls walked a short distance to a restaurant called Jangada and sat down at an outside table, where it appeared no handbag or purse was left unattended.

Then a scene altogether different from the one in the hotel began to unfold. Six to eight late-model vehicles, all with darkened, polarized windows closed in. A fire engine came up the street and stopped about 50 yards from where the Bush girls were sitting. The firemen hooked up its hoses to a hydrant, even though, as one fireman admitted to me, there was no fire in the zone.

It was clear the fire department had been called to block off the street. Still, anybody and everybody could walk just beside the table where the Bush party of six sat.

The presidential progeny is a topic of much discussion in Palermo, and many people were fully aware of where they are staying.

The young man who parked and watched my car, a block away from the boutique hotel, was not only aware of the Bush girls' presence, he basically knew their schedules -- when they get up in the morning, when they go out for lunch, when they go out dancing, what time they come back late at night.

Whether the Bush daughters should be kept on a shorter leash or have increased security is not my business. And I hope they're enjoying their visit to Argentina. Maybe I'll even give them some dining suggestions the next time I run into them.