Miley Cyrus at the VMA's

Okay, I've just got to come out and say this . . . so what?

I mean really. Is that really the most shocking thing anyone's seen on television? I doubt it. Is anyone really that shocked that Miley came out and let her freak flag fly on prime time? If so, where the eff have you been the last two years? She's been building up to this since for a while. And it's also important to note here -- Miley's 20 years old, it's not like she's a teenager anymore.

Look, I'm not condoning that hack-fest. But what were you expecting from MTV? Their tired shtick is this faux "pushing the envelope" bit. They've got a history of that, everyone expects it, it was Miley's turn this year, so there ya go.

Years ago, Madonna came out in a bustier and bridal veil and sang "Like a virgin" and people went nuts. It wasn't that shocking. But for some reason, folks just had to be outrageously outraged over something. At least in Madonna's case, she's an excellent dancer and a service-able singer.

Britney had her turn as the shock du jour. She couldn't and still can't sing a lick, but she was a hell of a dancer. Christina can bring the house down singing, and dances quite well too. But Miley . . . we don't really know what she can do yet, do we?

Since shedding her Hanna Montana image, her music has been searching for a direction. She's got a whiskey/smoker's kind of voice, but doesn't seem to want to play to that. She's hooked into the hip-hop stuff now, which is more talking than singing. And as far as dancing -- other than that horrible white girl twerking she does, the jury's still out on that as well.

What she is is another of those Disney chicks escaping the farm and running wild exploring her new found freedom. At the VMA's she didn't show any skin except her skinny ass hanging out of that vinyl diaper thingy she was wearing. The furor over her rubbing her ass on whatshisname Thicke is a bit over done.

Out of everything I saw in that opening medley, only using that foam finger like a penis seemed a bit too much to me. And get over the tongue, girl. It's not sexy. Keep it in your mouth, k?

And everyone else . . . calm the eff down! You're playing right into Miley's and MTV's hands. You want to stop this stuff, quit talking about it.