Tom Friedman & Malcolm Gladwell in Hartford

Thomas Friedman and Malcolm Gladwell--really an unlikely pair, but they sure brought the crowd to Hartford! I was there because my friend and colleague, Suzanne Maryeski, gave me a ticket to the Connecticut Forum, which brings people of note like Gladwell and Friedman to the stage of the venerable Bushnell auditorium for a conversation moderated by an equally notable person like veteran newscaster Rita Braver. The problem with this Forum was that Friedman and Gladwell didn't really have much to say to each other. Friedman was defensive. He was defensive about his support of the war. Everyone loves Friedman. He writes the columns. He's written the books. He's the man, but he supports the war in Iraq, and, as he said Thursday night, he has not backed down from his support. Friedman is pudgy, but still manages to look establishment. Gladwell, on the other hand, looks haggard. He is certainly younger, but not by so much. Gladwell's comments were those of a young man, and Friedman's those of an old guy. I credit Rita Braver for great questions directed to two people who really don't belong together on a stage. She clearly was very comfortable with Friedman, but didn't quite know what to do with Gladwell. I wonder how many folks in the audience had read both The Tipping Point and Blink, as well as The World is Flat?Friedman was good when talking about his book and its premise, which is that the world's playing field is now level. Gladwell, however, talked about (to my mind) more compelling issues. He described how his sympathy for the cops in the Dijallo shooting was born when he was picked up as a suspected rapist on 14th Street after he grew his African hair long. The cops made a snap decision based on what they knew about how criminals look and how they behave. The two men were cordial and allowed as how one was "big picture" and the other "small picture." I don't think so. Friedman is a foreign journalist. He talks about international economic policy. Gladwell talks about what it is like to live in these United States in the twenty first century. I think the crowd liked Friedman better. Maybe, like Braver, they were just more comfortable with him. I can't be sure because I couldn't stay for the questions. Suzanne had to leave at 9:00 pm because she was leaving for Australia the next day at 7:00 am. What was my excuse?