We had been having an incredibly amazing experience so far here in Israel learning about the nation’s past and visiting some of the most fascinating historical sites in the world. Yesterday, we went began by going to the Mount of Olives, a place of tremendous political and of course religious significance. We learned a great deal about the Kidron Valley, the City of David, Old Jerusalem, and the Temple Mount over the course of four hours hiking around the area.

It was simply stunning to me how close together everything was. From the stories I know in the Bible, I picture great expanses in between things like the Garden of Gethsemane and the actual city walls of Jerusalem, but they are separated by just a few hundred yards.

The reality of standing the places where Jesus walked and where world history was and is still being made was an awe inspiring experience. Many of us on the trip talked about how we felt we must be on a movie set or touring a museum, because we surely couldn’t be actually standing where Jesus was betrayed by Judas or on the territory over which the Palestinians and the Israelis have been fighting for so long.

We also saw the Basilica of the Agony right next to the Garden of Gethsemane where some in the group stopped to pray. I brought the Rosary my parents gave me when I was confirmed and took it out when we went inside the church. It’s a pretty emotional place and many people in the group took the time to really reflect on the betrayal of Jesus and how it changed the course of history and faith. On the way in to the church, there is a tree in the garden that is over 2200 years old and was present a the time Jesus and the Desciples were in the garden together. Amazing…

Next we went to the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. It was incredible to me that people continue to live, shop, and work in the some of the same places that have been in use since the city was first built. Over time countless layers of old development have been covered by new walkways and buildings, but you can still see some of the original stones forming the tops of archways that now barely reach ground level.

Finally we got a break and went home to shower and to have a Shabbat dinner. Afterwards we all got back on the bus and went back into the Old City to see thousands of Jews praying at the Western Wall. It was very interesting to see the many different types of Jews all sharing the same holy site and practicing their faiths in different manners. There was a great amount of singing and dancing, while others cried with deep emotion when they reached the front and touched the wall itself. After the Jews lost control of the city hundreds of years ago the Temple was destroyed a final time. Many years later the Muslims built the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque in its place, and they continue to stand there even though the Jews retook the area in 1967. The Western Wall is the only remaining portion of where the Temple originally stood, although it was not itself part of the Temple it was a portion of the wall forming the Temple Mount. Today, it is a site of deep emotion to Jews as well as a source of political strife.

That wrapped up the day and we headed back to call it a night.

Acronym was too good to pass up.  From a piece on Boston Globe Blog. 

NOTE: Laura Smith, 55, who lives in Connecticut and New Hampshire, is carrying a sign that declares, “The Democratic Party is a house divided” and another that says “Puma: Party Unity My A**.” She said she volunteered for Clinton during the primaries, plans to travel to Denver for the Democratic National Convention, and plans to vote for Republican John McCain in protest. “I think its important for everyone to understand that everybody is not falling in line for Obama,” said Smith, who said she believes that Obama is far too inexperienced to be president. “There are thousands of us out there, we communicate on the Internet, we don’t buy his story.” 

…and the Supreme Court actually does something to uphold the Constitution! Now that they’ve decided to read the document, maybe they can begin applying it to all over their decisions.

Anyway, we have all safely arrived in Israel and have had a tremendous day so far already. It’s in the 70’s it feels like and the dry air is a welcome break from the swampland our forefathers placed DC in.

There’s about 43 people in the group with us and we will be touring Israel in a bus with our friendly armed guard, Bor (I’ll spell check that later). Our first stop took us up onto the mountain where Abraham left his entourage to walk down into the valley and up the mountain of Moriah where he was to sacrifice Isaac. Today that is known alternatively as the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock. Pictures to follow…

PS: Internet here is pretty slow so videos may be more of a luxury than a regular update kind of thing.

Well, I’m sitting in the NYC-Kennedy airport for a few hours with some fellow College Republicans (and some others from the Dark Side) waiting for our flight to Tel Aviv, Israel for this year’s Campus Allies trip to go visit our friends in the heart of the Middle East.

I’m really looking forward to this experience as a great chance to do some of my own on-the-ground reporting. I’ve always wanted to go to Israel, and I’m very grateful for this opportunity. News coming out of the Middle East is always siphoned through the lens of the MSM, and I want to see what things are like for myself.

The trip will expose us to some cultural, political, and religious experiences and I’ll try to keep you updated on all the latest stuff through text, pics, and videos.

Stay tuned….

Interesting model to turn online opinions into tangible data for politicians, what do you guys think?  E Voice

Had a very productive lunch with Joe Bonus today who does all the products for our chapter kits.  We have some cool new stuff to include this year: new keychains, tyvex banners (instead of the paper that falls apart), sms info cards, and some other fun chum to help recruit on campus.  Best of all, we’re on schedule! 

Well, by now we have all heard that Obama has broken his “pledge” (his word) to accept public financing for the general election if his Republican opponent does the same. John McCain has kept his end of the bargain, but Obama sees a more politically expedient approach and is going to opt out of the public financing system, becoming the first presidential candidate since Nixon to do so.

Of course, this starts raise issues about his trustworthiness. Obama has made a great many promises to his supporters throughout this campaign, some of which are on a much grander scale than committing to public financing. Already we see his supporters having to call him to task over his recent pandering to the political center on the FISA bill, which he now says he supports even after promising to never compromise his values on such legislation only months ago. MoveOn.org has been sending their millions of liberal members emails asking them to make sure Barack doesn’t continue to break promises.

But, I never really thought he would lose support over breaking his pledge to accept public finanicing. While it is certainly a window into his character, it’s sorta a inside-baseball kind of issue. Not many people in the public carry public financing as their #1 issue.

I stand corrected:

Wrapped up this weekends state chair training this morning. People for the most part seemed enthusiastic and energized afterwards.  A lot of people are ready to get to work, and its really awesome to see. Thanks to everyone who came, and thanks for all you’re doing. 

Obama is holding a “Change That Works for You” event today with students in Taylor, Michigan. Sigh…

I feel like I’m beating a drum here, but when does Obama start to feel bad about all this hypocritical pandering? Look, just because we’re youth voters doesn’t mean that we will fall for anything and everything you tell us. Sometimes we do our own research, and it seems like Barack Obama is continuing to live in two separate worlds. There’s the one world where he has been a bi-partisan reformer, taking stands on unpopular issues for the greater good of the country…and then there’s reality where he simply toed the partisan line, or ducked an issue and cast his vote the way everyone else seemed to be voting. Meanwhile, John McCain has demonstrated his ability to bring about dramatic change in our government on issues of great importance to youth voters such as energy policy and the environment.

Listen, I get it. Having only one year of experience in the US Senate before you start running for president puts him at a little bit of a disadvantage in that he doens’t have much of a record to run on. But seriously, just making stuff up isn’t the way to run a campaign either.

Here’s one of my new favorites from his speech last night in Detroit:

“When Bush assigned Cheney to create energy policy, he met with the environmental groups once, the renewable energy groups once, he met with the oil and gas companies 40 times. Washington has become so dominated by the powerful, by the well-connected, that the voices of the American people are no longer heard.”

Ah yes, that horrible, evil energy bill that has led our country into this oppressive energy crisis…er, what? Oh? Oh, Barack Obama voted for the 2005 Energy Bill that he just referred to as the root of the problem in the energy crisis America is now facing. Well, I mean everybody was voting for it! It certainly wasn’t an issue anyone would want to take a stand on - do you know how risky those types of things are? Oh. You say John McCain voted against the 2005 Energy Bill…because

“This bill does little to address the immediate energy crisis we face in this country…I cannot in good conscience, vote to pass legislation that does not adequately address issues related to energy efficiency, security, and energy independence.” Sen. McCain 6/28/05

Obama has again tried to fool students on his record today in Michigan as he continues to live in two worlds. The first where The other world is full of the real results and actual voting record of John McCain as he’s fought for over 24 years in the Senate to enact dramatic change and real reform in our government.

Obama keeps telling students how “Washington has become so dominated by the powerful, by the well-connected, that the voices of the American people are no longer heard,”and yet he voted against the interest of the “American people” he cites in 2005.

His hypocrisy knows no bounds.

If Barack Obama really believes the stuff he says on the campaign trail about how our energy policy was formed, he should apologize for his vote for the 2005 Energy Bill. He won’t though because Barack Obama doesn’t represent anything new in Washington - just more of the same liberal games being played on a new generation of voters.

 The RNC launched a new site to introduce Sen. Obama to the American people, check it out at www.meetbarackobama.com