Thanks, Kanye. Love, Taylor ....

I don’t think I’ve watched the VMAs this century.

But the incident between Kanye West and Taylor Swift at last Sunday’s Video Music Awards got my attention. Did this really happen?

Has MTV successfully manufactured another outrageous stunt just months after the admittedly staged Sasha Baron Cohen/Eminem “tea-bag” incident? 

For those who missed it, Cohen, dressed as his gay film character Bruno, opened the MTV Movie Awards as a winged angel flying from the back of the auditorium over the audience. 

His flight was followed by a slow, harnessed descent that lowered him face first into Eminem’s lap. Feigning shock and outrage, the moody rapper was trapped with his nose positioned about three inches from Cohen’s Speedos. 

How do you follow that? Enter Kanye West. I can imagine the meeting now.

“Kanye, we need to stir things up. The show blows. Madonna is going to open with some maudlin Michael Jackson thing. Janet is going to pay embarrassing homage as well. We need you to do your deal. We need tweets. We need the masses talking about a controversial ‘moment,’ not about this deplorable show we produce every year. Jobs depend on you being a jerk. How about you sabotage a teenager’s acceptance speech? We’ll call Taylor Swift’s people and get them to play along. Got it?”

See, I think Kanye works for MTV. Like, on the payroll. This isn’t his first dump on one of their awards shows.

It was a brilliant stunt. At a freakishly young age, Taylor has evolved into a female Garth Brooks. As industry sales continue to free-fall, she is one of only a handful of artists who literally get to party like it’s 1999.

Even if it wasn’t a setup, she should thank Kanye for the diss. In a room full of pop stars gasping for attention and awards, Taylor took home the biggest prize. Beyonce may have won video of the year, but Taylor won the hearts of millions of viewers.

Kanye won, too. His image feeds on his behavior. I don’t buy the remorseful bit on Leno’s new show the following night. Maybe Jay’s in cahoots, too. Think about it. Why was Kanye booked as a guest on the premiere night of Leno? It wasn’t to perform or promote a tour or new album. Am I to understand he was booked because he’s such a compelling conversationalist?

At the end of the day, Kanye has money, celebrity, Hennessey, and whores. Good for him.

But if I hear one more celebrity mouth off about the rapper’s antics, I’m going to throw up. They’re all getting media face time thanks to Kanye. Do you think the media want to talk about music? Hell no. That’s boring. It’s all about the reaction to a train wreck.

You know what? I’ll thank him right now. Thanks, brother Kanye, for giving me something to blog about.

As for Taylor, she’s too young for me to pick on. I have a daughter who’s a fan. Taylor seems sweet and I’m indifferent to her music. But I can’t let go of the possibility that somebody in her camp saw this coming.

I’ve worked many of these awards shows and know that security is presidential tight. Producers and directors block shots the day before and day of. They sync a dozen cameras to a script that adheres to a certain timeline. It’s network ballet.

So with Kanye’s reputation of spontaneous outrageousness and that quick reaction shot of Beyonce, I call bullshit. 

Meanwhile, Taylor couldn’t be any better positioned for Middle America’s next awards show, the CMAs. She will be seen by the heartland as not only country music’s sweetheart but also the graceful victim of those mean ol’ maniacs at MTV.

If there’s a silver lining, it’s that the mass media is spotlighting similar events involving public outbursts from high-profile people and raising awareness of a rising trend of incivility in America.

Republican Congressman Joe Wilson called the president a liar on national television during a health care reform meeting like it was a town hall gathering over a trailer park issue.

Serena Williams dog-cussed and threatened an official over a foot fault in a tennis match. 

Kanye disrupted Taylor’s “moment” at the VMAs. In doing so, he created a bigger “moment” for her, with future dividends.

All of these big-forum incidents happened within days of one another. Perhaps God is working through our public figures in some bizarre, twisted way as if to say, “Y’all need to mind your manners. You’re embarrassing me!”

I predict two things as a result of all this: Taylor will win CMA Entertainer of the Year this fall and Kanye will compete on the fourth installment of John Rich’s reality show “Gone Country.”