How about that

I was kind of surprised to see that my post on why it’s LESS expensive to own a car received an Insta-link (that’s a link for Glenn Reynolds’ highly trafficked somewhat-right-of-center Instapundit blog).

A longtime reader (but infrequent commenter) “Billare” called it. He left a comment in which he wrote, “A tour de force on the scale of your ‘why computer programming sucks’ post.” (And here’s the link to my post on why a career in computer programming sucks.)

I have to say, I’m glad to receive the attention. One day, if I have enough readers, I could make a living just from blogging and I wouldn’t have to work for The Man. There’s also some message I’m trying to get out, and the more readers the louder the message.

In the other post for which I received an Insta-link, I compared Obama to Lyndon B Johnson and concluded:

The conclusion is that Obama is to the left of Clinton and even to the left of Carter, and he will have more support from Congress than either of those two presidents had. If he becomes president, he will do the most damage to the nation since Lyndon B. Johnson. History shows that any big spending initiative and new government programs created during the Obama administration will live on in perpetuity. Any money saved by pulling out of Iraq a few years earlier will be spent many times over in the long run.

Boy did I call that one correctly! We still haven’t pulled our military forces out of any countries, but Obama is busy spending massive amounts of money which will forever burden out country with debt repayments, and Congress just keeps giving him whatever he asks for.

Anyway, the pattern of the links suggests that in order to receive a link from Instapundit, one needs to expound on conventional right-of-center viewpoints. I guess I’m not going to get an Insta-link for writing about post-Marxism or value transference or Gaia worship, or HBD (that’s human biodiversity) or welfare for sterilization. I would be nice if I could become one of Glenn Reynolds’ go-to bloggers, but I think I’m just too radical for him.

My other most famous post was the one linked to by the New York Times article in which I analyzed data from the HapMap project and concluded that there already exists genetic proof of race differences in intelligence. But strangely, a link from Instapundit generates a lot more traffic than a link from a front-page New York Times article.

* * *

In response to comments below, that I blogged about Palin to get more blog traffic, and that I'm "whining":

The reason for the Palin posts is that (1) I really HATE her; and (2) she's lying about stuff related to her daughter and her pregnancy, which makes me hate her even more.

If I wanted this blog to be more popular, I'd surely do better by catering to conventional conservative viewpoints which means not bashing Palin. I've noted other bloggers afraid to say anything bad about Palin, because they don't want to be like Chris Buckley, fired from his dad's own magazine.

With to respect to guy who thinks I"m "whining." Well I don't really see it that way. Sure, I'd like to have a really popular blog, but I don't think that it's Glenn Reynolds' responsibility to promote me, and I don't expect him to. Nevertheless, getting a link from his blog is an interesting blogospheric phenomenon because of how many people click on his links. So Glenn, I thank you, but I also take this time to thank Steve Sailer who has, over time, driven more regular readers here than anyone else. I also thank everyone else who links to me and everyone who reads this blog and leaves comments.

Comments

[Turambar]

"I have to say, I’m glad to receive the attention. One day, if I have enough readers, I could make a living just from blogging and I wouldn’t have to work for The Man."

Depressingly we already deduced that is the only explanation for your Palin posts.

[Kevin K]

Another explanation for his Sarah Palin posts is that he really, really hates Sarah Palin.

Instapundit also links to Ann Althouse and Don Surber. I'm not sure that's company you want to keep.

[bristlecone]

Glad you're back to writing worthwile stuff. I quite reading when you were "All Sarah Palin, all the time."

We get it. Dead horsies are boring.

[Ted]

I love the Sarah Palin posts, but I am part of the rather tiny left-wing HBD demographic that is probably not worth targeting.

There's me, Mickey Kaus, Yglesias when he slips and lets his PC guard down and thats all I can think of.

Unlike instapundit, I am no fair-weather friend and check in here almost every day.

[Randall Parker]

HS, Glenn reads my FuturePundit blog and links to stuff on it every week (typically 2-3 posts per week). Well, I did an FP post linking to your post about owning cars. That's very likely that's how he got to your piece.

[D.L.Mc]

Don't cry that Instapundit doesn't link to your every post. How about being grateful Instapundit noticed you at all. It was that link that brought me here and may have resulted in your gaining a new regular reader. I will check back in because I liked a few posts and am also a NYC resident (way poorer & outer boro). Hope to enjoy more posts about the reality of life in NYC and less along this whiny line crying.

[Michael Anissimov]

I also got linked from Instapundit recently, for an article on nanotechnology.