Is America ready to be led by a New Age pundit? There's been much scrutiny of the respective religions of Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. But do we need to reconsider Maureen Dowd's fitness for op-ed office in light of her revelation that she has apparently embraced New Age spirituality, even undergoing a New Age "exorcism" complete with swinging crystal?

I kept waiting for Dowd to say it was all a joke -- but she never did. Her column of today, "Am I a Karma Karma Karma Karma Karma Chameleon? [1]", describes her experience, conducted by one Faith Green: "a pretty, curvy 31-year-old green-eyed blonde, [who] says she has studied tribal shamanism, rolfing, Pilates, tango, movement and stretching."

While Dowd evinces a modicum of doubt about the process, she also makes clear that this wasn't something she undertook as part of an expose of charlatans or simply as a goof. She writes [emphasis added]:

I’m having my house and body “cleared” for 2008, whatever that means. I’m more of a believer in mystery than mysticism. But I know for sure that New Year’s resolutions require too much discipline. An exorcism seems much easier.

She adds that rather than resort to other alternatives, it was "simpler to do a spiritual detox."

Dowd describes the daffy goings-on, from Faith "twirling a crystal over my green couch," to asking the shaman whether she, Maureen, had ever been a nun in a previous life [she hadn't].

So, is a pundit's New Ageism irrelevant, or . . . is it time for Dowd to address America and explain how her New Ageism affects her exercise of power on the pages of the New York Times?

Bonus Coverage: The Cackle Lives

Just for the heck of it, view the video here [1]. From George Stephanopoulos's interview of Hillary broadcast on today's This Week. Hillary tries to laugh off Peggy Noonan's unflattering comparison of her to . . . Richard Nixon.