It kind of shows Rockstar's true nature. They got lucky with GTA, but they don't even understand the reason the game is so good. They really think people are just in it for the gore. Now they're flooding the market with this poorly designed shockfest crap.
I really think you're right. Rockstar used to be a good company, but now they just seem to be putting out stuff to cause controversy. I mean seriously, if Jack Thompson wasn't so against them, would they have included a parody of him in GTA4? I think not.
However, they are free to do that kind of thing. It's a free country and freedom of speech is (somewhat, though less and less these days) protected.