This hasn't been a good morning for Steve Jobs. The Apple CEO is facing a report the feds are looking into his control-freak lockdown of the iPhone and iPad. And a Times columnist says the company's recent actions look "horrible."

The New York Post, citing one anonymous source, reports the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission both want to go after Apple for anti-competitive practices and are discussing which agency should launch the inquiry. At issue is Apple's ban on cross-compiling apps from Flash for the iPad and iPhone, as Wired and other news publishers had planned to do. Meanwhile, the New York Times' David Carr is calling Apple "churlish" for sending agents to the home of a man who sold Gizmodo an iPhone prototype; for censoring iPad and iPhone content seemingly at random; and for launching a war against Flash.

Apple's response has been to try and distract everyone by releasing some iPad sales statistics. Sort of like how the company distracted everyone with an essay from Steve Jobs on Flash the morning after he got roasted on the Daily Show. Why does Apple think it can distract us all with shiny objects, other than because it obviously works?