What Gets Attention on X

Substack

Ah, and so now I know.

If I unleash, run something right off the top of my head, express myself to the max (even if I haven’t thought it all through), that’s what gets far more “hits” than anything I’ve posted that was more carefully thought out, considered, even (perish the thought!) a wee bit academic. Off my chest. On the run. That’s the ticket to ride.

For example, when I posted the link to my more carefully considered piece, “The Hatred for Israel Boils Over at the UN,” which was republished in some rather distinguished venues, it only received 272 hits at X. Compare that with the 1,235 hits when I posted my three deeply felt, off-the-cuff pieces about my being tired of Jews having to be “better” than all other people, including better than our enemies--and that it was time for Israel to institute some boycotts of their own. Once I understood that some such boycotts would also negatively affect Israel’s economy, I decided that Israel might consider withholding altruistic surgeries for all the citizens of those countries that most produced and most spread the insanely evil propaganda against Jews and against Jewish Israel, most boycotted Israeli products, most allowed their citizenry to attack individual Jews and Jewish establishments all over the world, most encouraged their celebrities and athletes to boycott Israel in every way imaginable.

What would Israel lose economically? Would that same citizenry ever rise up against the Big Lies? Against the tyrannies that ruled them with so iron a fist? Probably not. That has never happened--not in Muslim-majority countries, not in the communist, totalitarian countries. Even if people have resisted, have heroically risked death in protests, they have never succeeded in changing their government. Have they?

Well, after first impoverishing and then holding Jews hostage for decades, the Kingdom of Afghanistan finally let them go. After a long, global demand to free Natan Sharansky from the Gulag, the Soviets had to let him go.

Would Israel’s reputation suffer? How much more could Israel be defamed? I guess we’ll see.

Going forward, I might indulge in more “crazy” but oh-so-satisfying shout outs. Why not? I can always slip in some deeper analysis or opinion, right? Others do.

Look: If even I could be fooled by the performance that the anti-Zionist crowd enacted at the UN--a fake show of walking out when PM Netanyahu spoke--then so can the rest of the world. Thank you, Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon, for setting us all straight.

Please allow me to confess: I am not even sure if or why such hits are important. Proof that others read your words, agree with them? I guess that’s our current coin of all the realms, yes?