"The "less'' was when Friedman, a man who at least once referred to himself in the third person ("This columnist has used his column ...''), responded to one of Danner's queries: "It doesn't strike me as a very interesting question.'' Perhaps he felt comfortable doing that because that's the kind of straight talk he shares with President Bush in their give-and-take, off-the-record White House gab fests, which the columnist made sure to mention. Friedman had been on tour for six weeks promoting his book "The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century.'' That's six weeks of admirers hanging onto his every idea, which must be a pretty, oh, empowering experience. Friedman, who'd helicoptered to UC direct from speaking at Google, seemed pretty darned empowered, and it was mentioned several times that his book is on top of the best-seller lists."