Ever since Frank Rich stopped writing his excellent, richly-informed, often very entertaining theater criticism, I can’t say I’ve read much of his work. There are only so many hours in the day. I did, however, get a chance to read his column on the proposed repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. My impression is that DADT has been a destructive distraction that has undermined the recruitment efforts of the military. I also think that it is possible to have a different view and not be a bigot. Rich disagrees on this last point, but that’s not the focus of his column. Rather, his main concern appears to be that Republicans are concealing their secret bigotry by not raising forceful objections to the proposed repeal. One has to assume that the secret bigotry of Republicans extends to a desire to repeal the Nineteenth Amendment that gave women the right to vote.

Having accomplished so much early on in his career as a critic, Rich has turned to investigative journalism. Not content to rely on shoe-leather reporting, his unorthodox investigative method draws on his innate psychic powers to divine the true sentiments of those with whom he disagrees. At some point, Rich will no doubt leave columnizing behind to focus on using ESP on the rich and powerful, whether to engage in a stealthy spin on insider trading or to give brutal dictators and other hated enemies really bad headaches.

I will say this for Rich: his sons Nathaniel and Simon are both brilliant writers, which reflects very well on him. As of yet, however, neither has manifested the ability to levitate objects using only the power of mind. But sometimes these things take a while.

In the column, Rich also suggests that Michael O’Hanlon of Brookings, a leading defense analyst, is not an expert, which, in light of O’Hanlon’s long experience, is a bold and provocative view, not unlike the bold and provocative view that deep beneath the Earth’s crust there lies a “land of the lost” where dinosaurs and primitive humans co-exist in a trippy fantasia. One hopes that this will be the subject of a future Rich column.

I’ve had my fun. Frank Rich is clearly a really gifted writer and thinker. What saddens me is that he has so little empathy for the kind of people who will never be in his circle. (How do I know? I’m using my Richian psychic powers.) To be sure, Rich does seem to care about those less fortunate than himself, which could be an admirable byproduct of his very prosperous upbringing. But pity isn’t empathy. Empathy is supposed to extend even to those you place on the other side of your self-built barricades. My support for gay rights is rooted in empathy, at least in part. So is my belief that those who oppose ending DADT aren’t necessarily irrational bigots.