Critiquing someone for not finishing college demonstrates you're an out-of-touch blowhard with no understanding of other people's circumstances. I have known many brilliant people who did not finish their degrees and others - including my parents - who never went to college at all. Implying that someone is unfit to be President because they lack a piece of paper is insulting to millions of Americans who are intelligent and capable.
We happen to live in a nation where several of our top businessmen - Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Walt Disney, and Mark Zuckerberg - never finished college. They proved that a degree is not proof of merit. It is simply one approach, but not for everyone. Lives wind through in myriad ways and we should always remember that the road to personal excellence can diverge sharply from person to person.
Full disclosure: I happen to have a nice set of papers myself (a Bachelor's and two Master's), but I never see that as instant proof that I am somehow "better" than someone without them. To me, they are proof that I, personally, worked hard to earn them. Someone capable of equivalent work who invested it into other areas is as worthy of respect as I.
Howard Dean's comment reflect an anti-individual view that everyone should conform to what he deems best rather than make their own choices and find their own paths. It's the view that whoever doesn't walk the same path as yourself is somehow inferior or lesser for taking different steps. It ignores the results for the methods and insists there can only be "one true way" (a way that the person in question is an absolute expert on, of course). That's an offensive and anti-American sentiment that people on both sides of the aisle should reject.
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