January 7, 2018

There's a lot of envy about all the money Michael Wolff is making off his dubious book...

... and now here comes Wikileaks dumping the whole thing on the web for anyone to read free.

What a crazy lying, cheating, stealing world we live in.

Stay honest. Stay virtuous. 2 wrongs don't make a right.

So much leaking! Have you ever seen so much leaking?

Wikileaks. Bannon leaks. Including tears.

71 comments:

Left Bank of the Charles said...

Face it, you’re upset that you paid for it, and others don’t have to.

Sprezzatura said...

Where's the "Trump is like Reagan" tag?

Ps in pod, those two.

MikeR said...

Pretty much all books are online for free, if you don't care about piracy. It's funny that Wikileaks would do this one.

bleh said...

Ha ha ha.

MikeR said...

"Stay honest. Stay virtuous. 2 wrongs don't make a right." Get it at a library. Or on Overdrive, the online library.
But the truth is that I'm not that interested in Wolff's fabulism. I'll stick to Heidi.

rehajm said...

...and yet books and newspapers just won't die.

Sprezzatura said...

BTW, Althouse left Miller off of her list of leakers who jabber to the press about internal stuff. The original Miller, John.

And, Baron. The John one.

bleh said...

Meh. I think this just makes the book more accessible to people who would rather not spend their money on it. So more people will read the scandalous book that’s tearing apart the nation’s capital. Wolff will be fine; he may even have his place in history elevated as a result. There could be a movie.

I thought Wikileaks was pro-Trump?

Spaceman said...

Gee, you can get it free? Oh, my, I would never do that.

Etienne said...

I tried to download it and it said too many downloads, come back later.

So I hit the print button, and said print to PDF. Victory.

Will I read it? Probably not. It was just an exercise.

Quayle said...

“What a crazy lying, cheating, stealing world we live in.”

Ah, but no repressed sexuality. No antiquated moral code. This is all just people defining one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life. So we should be happy - overjoyed - with the full expression of liberty were seeing now, in all its manifold possibilities

Freeman Hunt said...

Why would Wikileaks put that online? It's not like they're exposing anything that isn't easily available already.

tcrosse said...

Why would Wikileaks put that online?

It's sort of like counterfeiting Mexican money.

Spaceman said...

I suspect the Russkies gave it to Wikileaks to interfere with the Fall elections

Quayle said...

Unless they are somehow connected and we just never thought they were. In the which case we should be very concerned about our future as a society and as neighbors.

Clyde said...

I wouldn't read it, even for free. It would waste time I could better use napping or taking a dump.

Clyde said...

tcrosse said...
Why would Wikileaks put that online?

It's sort of like counterfeiting Mexican money.

More like counterfeiting Venezuelan bolivars.

gbarto said...

Wasn't going to give the author my money, or my brain time. So no download. Waste of hard drive space.

D. said...

you forgot a word:


"So much leaking! Have you ever seen so much leaking? Sad."

Temujin said...

Everything about all of this just stinks. I'm tired of all of the shit. All of it.

Spiros said...

I wonder if Mr. Wolff kept electronic notes on his computer or handwritten notes?
And how did he write the book itself. Did he use a computer or pen and paper. We know that Obama wiretapped individual journalists, the AP and Foxnews (which was some sort of co-conspirator in some sort of conspiracy). So this sort of access and this sort of book would have never happened under the previous President. Never. So if you were Mr. Wolff wouldn't you also be a bit paranoid?

Oso Negro said...

@ Etienne - Thanks for the tip!

Bad Lieutenant said...

anti-de Sitter space said...
Where's the "Trump is like Reagan" tag?

Ps in pod, those two.

1/7/18, 5:24 PM


shiloh, you said you would go away till the next Presidential election. Why do you lie?

Ann Althouse said...

"Face it, you’re upset that you paid for it, and others don’t have to."

No. I would not download a copy. I don't steal, even when things are there for the taking.

Rob said...

Information wants to be free.

Ann Althouse said...

"Why would Wikileaks put that online?"

To hurt Wolff.

Why would they want to do that?

To hurt Trump without worrying about the unintended consequence of hurting Wolff.

Because it's such important information that it had to become free?

To get attention for Wikileaks?

To help Trump?

Ann Althouse said...

@Rob You wrote the saying that was in my head when I was writing my last comment. ("Because it's such important information that it had to become free?")

eddie willers said...

Why would Wikileaks put that online? It's not like they're exposing anything that isn't easily available already.

Takes money out of Wolff's pocket.

Not a single person has changed his (or her) mind about Trump one way or the other because of this book.

Wikileaks is smacking him where it hurts without damaging Trump one iota.

wild chicken said...

Yeah, so far Wolff is pretty even handed. I think there's enough truth here to make it interesting historically.

Trump will survive it.

Trumpit said...

"What a crazy lying, cheating, stealing world we live in."

I loved your double-spaced demonic, er sermonic blog post. I like it when you expose bad behavior & hypocrisy wherever & whenever you see it. I was obliged to take an ethics course when I was in college, and it opened my eyes. Perhaps if more prison sentences where handed out for "lying, cheating, & stealing," there would be less of it. The American culture, and not only the American culture, is sick.

I hired a well-known medical expert in California to review 57 pages of my mother's medical records. He said he was the head of some medical ethics committee. I explained the fraud in the records used to cover up the homicide. He went to medical school in Italy, and had to learn the language first. He wasn't stupid; he knew damn well what happened to my mother. He lied to my ignorant attorney that "it wasn't below the standard of care." I was furious, and demanded my money back on his recording device. He relented and gave me my money back.

It bears repeating ad nauseam, "What a crazy lying, cheating, stealing world we live in."

Etienne said...

It's all Ecuador's fault. They give room and board to the accused rapist and Russian spy. They are responsible for any copyright violations, and should be sued as enablers.

eddie willers said...

I was obliged to take an ethics course when I was in college

The only course I ever cheated in.

Ken B said...

Sounds like Ann wants to drain a few swamps.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

I would read that book for $100.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Takes money out of Wolff's pocket.”

Done out of spite.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Hacking the into the DNC and publishing it on Wikileaks was also stealing.

Jason said...

Nah. If I want the book, I'll pay for it.

I've stood up for intellectual property rights for people I like. I'll stick up for them for less sympathetic characters, too.

I will not download or read a stolen copy, and I won't distribute the link to enable other people to steal it, too.

It'll be in the library soon enough.

And in the LAST CHANCE RED DOT BARGAIN BIN at Barnes and Nobles even sooner.

gspencer said...

"So much leaking! Have you ever seen so much leaking?"

Yeah, just before the Saints game ended I used the 2-minute warning to go the head.*

*That's an old Marine/Navy word for the john.

gspencer said...

Wolff's probably a Democrat who was okay with Obamacare where no secrets, medical ones too, are safe. And he's worried about his frappin' book of falsehoods.

tcrosse said...

Mea Culpa. I posted the link on the previous thread. Then, on reflection, in a fit of remorse, deleted it, not wishing to involve our gracious hostess in an act of piracy. Mea maxima culpa.

tcrosse said...

Hacking the into the DNC and publishing it on Wikileaks was also stealing.

Pentagon papers, too. Tell Streep, if she didn't already know.

Otto said...

"Stay honest. Stay virtuous.'
"What a crazy lying, cheating, stealing world we live in."
But of course you are totally honest,always virtuous , never lied, never cheated, and definitely never stole.
Those are just "i am for motherhood and against sin" platitudes
I think you could have expressed your frustration in a more adult manner. Plus I think there is something more specific that has you concerned. Maybe you are concerned that writers can't make a living.

FullMoon said...

Why would Wikileaks put that online?

According to "Ingas" elsewhere, it is a ruse for Russia to plant virus in your computer/phone in order to steal your info and identity.

I am not making this up.

n.n said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
n.n said...

In the words of the liberal matriarch: it's not stealing, stealing. It's unsolicited marketing, in a net neutral manner. Or so goes the rationalization of bit theft by nibblers.

It's redistributive change! Choice! Euphemisms! Progress! Genius!

tcrosse said...

Slightly OT, but in The Crown, the superb series on Netflix, Elizabeth and Phillip are having an argument. She is queensplaining something to him, and he says, "Don't Matronize me." A nice turn of phrase, I think.

rehajm said...

Just don’t make the mistake that every download is lost revenue for Wolff. While some people might be saving thrmselves some money most them were never going to buy it anyways.

rehajm said...

See supply/demand curves.

n.n said...

It's not supply and demand. It's bit theft. They wouldn't dare pull the same rationalization at the auto dealer, the jeweler, the SSA (Social Security Administration).

David53 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
David53 said...

Wikileaks should have inserted the twitter parody account of Trump watching the gorilla channel in the first chapter, that would have been really good.

Amadeus 48 said...

The Greatest Show on Earth.

It is only a matter of time until a General Tom Thumb lookalike takes up residence in Bannon’s old office, saying, “The Big Guy said he needed someone who could look Jake Tapper and Chuck Todd in the eye, so I volunteered. I guess I’ll have to lean down to get to their level. Sad.”

And the MSM will go for it hook, line, and sinker, while Trump’s numbers move steadily upward based on his 2018 slogan: Great Americans come in all sizes.

narciso said...

Fwiw

https://legalinsurrection.com/2018/01/berkeley-linguist-trump-has-the-power-to-control-tens-of-millions-of-brains-via-tweets/

Wince said...

Nikki Haley said, “The one thing about the book, having been governor and now an ambassador, I am always amazed at the lengths people will go to lie for money and for power, this is like taking it to a whole new low.”

Bad Lieutenant said...

Download in good conscience, I'm sure, if you can stomach the reading and want to give Wolfe the hit. I feel certain that this was a plausibly deniable authorized leak from either author or publisher, to drive controversy. I'm sure that the financial aspects of the publication efforts are the least of anyone's concerns. Buwaya has gone before into detail about this as a successful means of fraud/slush/payola.

narciso said...

Like the producers:

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/timothymeads/2018/01/07/fire-and-fury-falsely-claims-john-boehner-resigned-in-2011-other-editing-errors-n2431283

Bad Lieutenant said...

Does anyone find this Wolff, by the way, to be a very unattractive, odd, sinister or even evil-looking man? A curious mix of features and coloring. Wonder if he is of Russian/ethnic origin or what, he reminds me of Yezhov. Maybe somebody will #MeToo Michael Wolff. Yezhov was a known sadist and sexual pervert.

narciso said...

No has more like nosferatu, has a fellow who lost millions in an early internet start up.

BJM said...

I dunno about leaking, but I've never seen so much winning...

Every time Wil E. Progressive thinks he's got Trump an anvil unexpectedly falls from above.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Bad, Wolff is Jewish, if that's what you mean.

Achilles said...

Inga said...
Hacking the into the DNC and publishing it on Wikileaks was also stealing.

At this point even you know it was an inside job. Even you know the whole thing is a crock of shit.

I used to say you people were either stupid or evil. I have embraced the power of and.

Obama neutered the OIG(Inspector General) because he didn't like transparency or watchdogs. The investigations into fast and furious were too much for him. He was a petty dictator at heart. In 2016 he was forced to return it's powers in the lame duck session.

There is going to be a second special prosecutor based on a new OIG report. And when Hillary goes to jail progressives will not be able to hide from the truth anymore.

I fully expect you to remain an enemy of freedom and the rule of law however. The entire progressive movement is really just Stalinism with a wig and new clothes.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I get it ! Wolff played the TDS crowd for money, lots of it. So did Bannon get a cut ?

Robert said...

Althouse: "No. I would not download a copy. I don't steal, even when things are there for the taking."

It may be illegal under American law, but it wouldn't be considered stealing under the 10 Commandments.

I know Althouse is big on ridiculous local laws. She won't smoke weed because it's "against the law". "I must obey the law!" Yap yap yap. Her law school produces many prosecutors who have ruined peoples' lives for doing nothing actually wrong, but oh no they smoked some weed, blah blah blah. DESTROY THEM! Or, oh no, they had a pocket knife with a blade that was an inch too long, blah blah blah. University of Wisconsin Madison law school pumps out these filthy scumbags who ruin peoples' lives over nothing. They should ashamed of themselves. Land of the free? ISn't that what this is supposed to be? Call off your Madison law school corrupt prosecutors and leave people alone, stop ruining their lives. I've never seen Althouse stand up about that.

Is it "theft" to click on a free copy of a book? That's not really what the Bible had in mind when it said "thou shalt not steal". The Bible had in mind real thefts. Althouse spent her career in the world of fake laws. Oh, you're a criminal if you smoke weed. Oh, you're a criminal if you have a pocket knife over 3 inches. Bunch of bullshit. Bullshit laws for bullshit people.

Saint Croix said...

When I gave out free copies of my book to readers of this bog, copies of the pdf ended up on the internet.

That can happen any time you send out copies of your work.

Also libraries will loan out your book for free! Well, not my book. But other people's books.

I was kind of shocked that any pro-lifers would be motivated by money. Or that somebody would be aware of my book, aware of what I was saying, and think, "I can make money off this." Why would you think that way? What the hell.

"Why would Wikileaks put that online?"

Greed, selfishness, wants to be the center of attention.

Fernandinande said...

Saint Croix said...
When I gave out free copies of my book to readers of this bog, copies of the pdf ended up on the internet.


It was the only book I've ever looked at which confused me with its first word: "Will". Someone's name, or referring to the future tense? Whichever it was, I got it backwards and the sentence was awful. But that first word was pretty memorable.

Just asking questions (Jaq) said...

Wikileaks should really be screwing with a guy trying to make a dishonest buck.

Just asking questions (Jaq) said...

When I gave out free copies of my book to readers of this bog, copies of the pdf ended up on the internet

I used to have a blog, and I once wrote a post that dealt with a technical aspect of a certain sport, I went back to my old mechanical engineering textbooks, and spent probably four days working out some very useful tables. A week later, some other blogger had cut and paste the entire article and added the sentence at the end “what do you think about this?” without even a link back to my blog. Not a few sentences, and a link, the entire thing and no link.

That was my “fuck this” moment with blogging. I wrote one more post that was an lay interpretation of a scientific paper, and I noticed that after a few weeks or months, the content of that blog post, based on the paper, had become sort of accepted wisdom on blogs. I had linked back to the paper, which I had actually paid for out of a sense of fairness. For some reason that didn’t bother me so much, because I felt I had had some influence.

Putting content on the internet is a fools game, unless it is stuff that is good while it is fresh and hot, and of the moment, like this blog.

Timeforchange said...

I feel alarmed that Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers series has entered the White House.

If you compare the photos of Michael Wolff and Dr. Evil they appear to me to be the same person.

Leigh said...

Why would Wikileaks put it online? Because now it's not special. Anyone can read the book, for free! Heck, Wikileaks may have even turned it into something worthless. Certainly, it has lost its allure. Since the book is now everywhere, accessible by anyone, at no charge, I have no interest in reading it. The thrill is gone.

Spaceman said...

Google has blocked the wikileaks link to the book.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Char Char Binks said...
Bad, Wolff is Jewish, if that's what you mean.

1/7/18, 11:48 PM


No CC, actually what I was getting at is that he looks part Negro. I saw one photo of him, on an angle with some kind of poisonous pursed-mouth smirk, and it struck me that he looked like the late Geoffrey Hokder, 7-Up pitchman and Bond henchman (Baron Samedi).

But as I mentioned, Dimitri Yezhov had a similar cast to his features, and since I thought it unlikely that his lineage included African DNA, it occurred to me that there might be some swarthy Eastern European race that has that look. I was inclined to assume that Wolff was a Russian Jew, wherefore my mind went that way.

Do t get me wrong, there are Jews and Russian Jews of extraordinary physical beauty. Just look at me, in fact. Though my Estonian gf said that was probably the Polish blood.