While Miley Cyrus searches for her clothes ...

And we call this entertainment?

Like most of you, I missed the VMA award show this weekend. It wasn't by accident.

But it was hard to miss the highlight reel from the televised fiasco.

The VMAs -- more than most -- is hype built on the expected inappropriate performance or comment that some "entertainer" uses to unleash his or her 15 minutes of fame.

The program is designed for shock value to trump talent. And it rarely fails to deliver.

This year -- in the brief highlights I was subjected to -- had Miley Cyrus in full and distinctively underwhelming display; Kanye West -- who thrives on the attention -- announcing a run for the presidency; and Nicki something trying to provoke a street fight with Miley Cyrus.

This only serves to remind me why I would never watch this televised smut.

No prude am I. If Miley wants to flaunt what she clearly lacks in the hopes this will raise her "entertainment" profile, so be it.

But is there no consideration of the young people -- my grandchildren among them -- who watch this as if it were normal behavior?

If a nation indeed has a moral compass -- and I no longer assume that is always the case -- then we have clearly lost ours.

Granted, a nearly-naked Miley will not be the end of civilized society. And Kanye's publicity stunt will not threaten the state of our political process.

But little by little, in ways virtually lost on most of us, we accept spectacles today that not too long ago would have been unthinkable.

Rude public behavior, crude gutter language, not so veiled threats -- these today we accept as somehow "normal."

I know there is no equivalency, but it seems somehow ironic that we dare not utter a prayer in public yet we accept the bizarre and outlandish displays of Miley Cyrus?

If the VMAs are what passes as entertainment today and if many of those performers are the vanguard of the younger generation, no wonder why some of us see only doom and gloom on the horizon.

When Americans no longer trust the mass media and no longer respect the entertainment industry, what's next -- a disdain for government?

Too late, we're already there.

The sun will come up tomorrow and the world will continue to spin. And someday, Miley will find her missing clothing.

But don't expect me to jump on the Kanye political bandwagon. The last thing we need is another clown in the White House.

Bazinga!