You are referring to the simple standards themselves, when you say they don’t dictate content, but that is not how they are necessarily implemented at the state level.
I see what you are saying. However, not in any way endorsing the concept, I have to point out that any state could have always done this, regardless of how which standards they were using.
Massachusetts had state standards before Common Core. All that has been done with their adoption has been to make their standards the same as Connecticut, Rhode Island,... and most other states. I think 40 states have adopted Common Core.
AS you point out, and as I have pointed out, the standards themselves are not the problem, it's the texts and methodologies used to implement them. And those are left to state/district. In my case, it's an individual teacher decision, although the teachers in my district share ideas and resources sometimes.
Being in the middle of the transition, so far I haven't seen it as that big a deal. I will say that the teach-gnashing and hissy-fitting I've seen has been from teachers who aren't good at their craft anyway, and their main concern is how test scores will impact their evaluations. It's not a perfect system, but I believe in some accountability for teachers.