I agree you can't regulate stupid but we are a country of laws. If the receptacle was in a wall, 18" below the counter, you could certainly plug in a blender with a 6' cord and sit it on the counter top but the receptacle still can't be said to "serve" the counter top in a 210.12 sense.
If we really want all the receptacles in a kitchen to be GFCI, change the code.
There is a similar situation going on about GFCIs on pool pumps here. The Florida Building Commission went out of their way to exempt hardwired pool pumps from the new NEC rule (god knows why) but inspectors are twisting the code around to try to enforce it anyway. (usually 110.3(B) but some manufacturers do not really say that you "shall" use GFCI)
My take on it is, if you are just going to make up your own rules as you go along, there are no rules.
