I am glad that Americans have shown that they can unite against a common enemy, like al-Qaeda, cancer and Kanye West.

After his social foul-up at the MTV Video Music Awards, when Kanye snatched the mic from a defenseless, skinny, quivering Taylor Swift to basically tell her she didn't deserve the award, a growing roster of celebrities has come out to join PAK (People Against Kanye). Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Beyoncé, Joe Jackson, Kellie Pickler, Adam Lambert, Katy Perry, John Mayer, Walter Cronkite and Dikembe Mutombo all agree that you just can't disrupt time-honored, respectful proceedings to spout off your own unsolicited opinion.

I am sure I have said this before in this column, but Kanye West is now the Joe Wilson of music. To some, Kanye West and the South Carolina congressman are very different people, and I can see their point. One is black and uses offensive language in his songs, and the other teamed up with Jamie Foxx for "Gold Digger." I kid.

Wilson and Kanye may disagree on whether George Bush cares about black people, but they also have much in common. Look at this handy list I just found in this week's Quick.

Joe Wilson: Interrupted the president to shout "You lie!"

Kanye West: Interrupted a hot music star to show what drinking does to judgment.

Joe Wilson: Immediately apologized via a carefully crafted statement of contrition.

Kanye West: Immediately apologized via a blog message that included the word "Boooyaaawwww."

Joe Wilson: Voted "no" on revitalizing severely distressed public housing (January 2008).

Kanye West: Had sex with Amber Rose.

(Therefore, they both screwed somebody.)

I guess my point is that when it comes to manners, we are all devolving. We are all part of our smackdown, trash-talking culture. From congressmen to rappers, we all are edging closer to venting our spleen whenever and wherever our emotion overtakes us. Some people praised Joe Wilson for his truth-telling courage, and some loved that Kanye made the awards show more interesting by grabbing the mic like a drunk uncle at a wedding reception.

Personally, I am glad there was a huge showing of condemnation against these two. A reverse smackdown, if you will, proving civility still has a pulse. Makes me all warm and gooey inside, like a chocolate-chip cookie, or an unclean hooker.

That was as uncalled for as a Kanye mic grab.

Hear Gordon on "The Ticket" KTCK-AM (1310) weekdays from 5:30 to 10 a.m. E-mail him at gordon@gordonkeith.com.

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