I was a little surprised to see Rush touting the amazingness of the next version of the Mac OS, Lion. But I guess I shouldn't be. It's really my fault that I'm constantly surprised that Rush is an outspoken elitist.

He portrays it as "aspirational," of course. That's how you put a positive spin on being an outspoken elitist, you say you're bragging about your wealth to give people something to aspire to. Or allowing them to share in your fantasy of wealth for a few moments. I guess? Frankly I'm not actually sure why people enjoy other "aspirational" products like the Kardashians' various television shows, or Martha Stewart worship.

The more I thought about it, the more sense it made. Mac is the operating system which is famously easy to use. "Idiot-proof" is the term which gets thrown around in back rooms a lot. Your mom and dad probably dig Macs, or would if they had one.

In Neal Stephenson's canonical In The Beginning Was The Command Line, Macs are a beautiful luxury car with a sealed engine. You can't get in there and make any changes or fix anything, but it mostly doesn't matter, because they mostly don't break. Mostly.

Of course, one pays a lot for that privilege. Here, of course, is what could well have been the sole selling point for Rush. The man does love to brag about his wealth, his private jets, his opulent homes. No mere PC would suffice for a braggart like Rush Limbaugh. Obviously he would go for the most expensive, prettiest-looking laptop.

As a staunch Linux/Unix fan for over a decade, I tend to think of Macs as toy computers. You used to begrudgingly add, "Graphic designers like them, because they do a better job handling the scratch memory that graphics-intensive programs like Photoshop and Illustrator need." But that just isn't the case anymore. Now, it's basically the computer of Trustafarian college students and hapless old people. And if you think about it, Rush Limbaugh is a little of both.

What really amuses me about this kind of thing is that Republicans are - in theory - the party that's all about fiscal responsibility. Given which, you simply can't justify the purchase of a Mac. Macs are a lot of things, but "fiscally responsible" they ain't. Pretty? Sure. Easy to use? Absolutely. Do they trade functionality for that ease of use? Arguably. But for the most part, the people who buy them are more concerned with style than substance.

Rush Limbaugh: Mac Fan. Believe it!