The thing that makes it different is that in the SEs, the previous scenes aren't being deleted/replaced because of time or budget reasons, they're being purposely erased by Lucas, and replaced with digital effects.

And deleted scenes are normally included as part of the special features section of the DVDs, so people can still see them. In the case of the SEs, Lucas is attempting to bury the scenes he replaced.

And I still disagree with you about Return of the Jedi being the worst. Personally, I think The Phantom Menace is the worst (even though I don't hate it) and I'd pick Return of the Jedi over it any day. And Return of the Jedi wasn't even originally supposed to be the end of the Star Wars saga, it was originally going to be a nine-part saga, but now Lucas has said he's not doing the other three parts.