ARROGANT NRA, IDIOTIC APPLE

Joe Scarborough is upset:

Absolutely unbelievable. Extremists in charge are holding the NRA hostage. @morningmika twitter.com/JoeNBC/status/…

— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) January 15, 2013

Well, you're right to be upset, Joe. But no, Joe -- extremists haven't suddenly taken the NRA hostage. This is what the NRA has been for about 35 years -- a period that covers your entire congressional career as an NRA backer. And yet no one ever leaves the NRA, with extremely rare exceptions. (A round of applause for you, Poppy Bush, although you quit years after you left office.)

But, yes, this is ridiculous -- although it's just the NRA being the NRA, imagining itself and the guns it champions as the embodiment of all that is true and good and nurturing in the world:

... Exactly one month after the Newtown school massacre, the National Rifle Association has launched a free iPhone and iPad shooting game offering kids as young as 4 a chance to fire guns at coffin-shaped targets.

The free game "NRA: Practice Range" is offered on iTunes and allows would-be snipers to choose a weapon to fire at an indoor gun range, an outdoor range or for skeet shooting practice.

The free guns include a Beretta M-9 handgun, a Colt M-16 assault rifle with 15-round clip or a Mossberg 500 pump-action shotgun.

For 99 cents extra, players can "unlock" higher-capacity guns similar to one Adam Lanza used in the Sandy Hook massacre, including AK-47 assault rifles and an M-11 sniper rifles.

The NRA says this is good for kids because it has the "right balance of gaming and safety education."

Oh, and:

Adding to the horror, Apple, whose credo is "enriching lives," approved the manufacturer's recommended age rating of 4 and up for the disturbing game.

Yes, this app got Apple's 4+ rating. As a point of comparison, Apple gave a 9+ rating -- not suitable for 4-to-8-year-olds -- to Amazing Ants:

Help these Hungry Ants bring fruit home. THEY NEED YOU!

Make these jumping ants FLY with Rocket Sticks, TUNNEL underground, FLOAT in soap bubbles, and BOUNCE off water sprinklers to get golden apples, luscious berries, mouth-watering peppermints and much more! Loaded with fun physics game play, challenging puzzles, and gorgeous graphics, Amazing Ants will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Also rated 9+: this Magic Video Effects app.

Magic Video Effects 9+ app provide nine camera filters to create funny videos, include: THIN, FAT, SHORT, TALL, WEIRD, CRAZY, SCARY, FUNNY, REALLY FUNNY, FALL DOWN ON THE FLOOR FUNNY, MULTIPLE PARTS, MISSING PARTS, HUGE PARTS, TOON OIL PAINT !!

OK, maybe I understand why Plants vs. Zombies is rated 9+ -- but it's too intense for little kids and the NRA app isn't? Apple, can you explain this?