What Kind Of Guy Exposes His Wife To This Much Danger?

[Mark E. Smith]

The right wing blog flogs are all a-flame today over the reception Laura Bush received as she walked the streets of Jerusalem on her way to the Temple Mount. Here's an example:

Muslims Welcome First Lady at Temple Mount
http://www.pardonmyenglish.com/archives/2005/05/muslims_welcome.html

Laughable, of course. But here is something I can't quite get my head around: There can't be a single serious security analyst in the Bush administration that didn't know Lady Bush would not be received very well should it be decided that she needs to take a media op sojourn through the cobbled streets of Jerusalem. This is one of the most religiously charged cities on the planet today, the site of numerous terrorist attacks, suicide bombings, and various other forms of general mayhem, a flashpoint for violence if ever there was one. Can you think of a single worse place to send the mother of your children?

So why did Bush allow Laura to be exposed to this kind of danger? What was the point? The gain of a couple of points in his poll numbers? It would be seen as a step towards setting the women of Muslim countries free? Anything?

I don't get it. What possible gain could be realized from this reckless act?