Why people acts like this is news? Apple loves this kind of control.
I think the problem is the sheer arbitrary nature of their decisions; it seems like there is a "Wizard of Oz" effect going on - Some mysterious force rejects applications, but you can't ask about the rejections or the reasons because nobody who speaks to the developers is authorized to do so.
It's devolving from an irritation to an evil (in the Google sense of the word).