You're completely missing the point of my argument. I'm not saying you can't complain about MBPs not being fast enough, spec'd out enough, powerful enough, etc. You might think there is a baseline that all MBPs should hit in terms of price and performance. The lower end Pro, you might argue, muddies the line. That is all fine - and has been argued before.
Where your argument becomes snobbery is when you frame it within "too many regular joes can now buy MacBook Pros" - who cares how many people can afford them? Your issue is with the specs/pricing and what that means for the "Pro" name. That said, what should it matter to you if there is an entry level Pro? It's nomenclature. If you need such a high end laptop, you definitely should not be going for the base, entry-level version - aka the model the unwashed masses buy because it's less expensive.
This cheaper model didn't just magically get more powerful at a huge discount - they cut specs to make it available to a larger audience. It's that simple. MBPs used to start at $2k - so really that's about the price you would have been paying, and if you paid that now, I don't think you can argue that you'd have what you need.
The accessibility of the entry level model of the Pro is just a smart business move by Apple.
