I wish Walt Whitman was alive.

[otherlander]

He would know what to do. He would say something like... The more we recognize the beauty of our own natures, the more we can understand other people doing the same thing, and the more different we can be from each other, or something.

[valerief]

1. He'd get beaten up by jerkoff talking heads for being gay. nt

[alstephenson]

2. "Leaves of Grass"....

one of my favorite books.

[TechBear_Seattle]

3. I would love to hear Ambrose Bierce or Sam Clemens regarding the modern world n/t

[kimmerspixelated]

4. I sing the body electric!

One of the greatest poets that ever lived! Really, my favorite! But he would be ridiculed, I'm sure, by all the real bozos of the world!

[Hannah Bell]

5. "Whitman! thou shouldst be living at this hour,

America has need of thee: she is a fen
Of stagnant waters; altar, sword, and pen..."

[zanne]

8. Here's part of Allen Ginsberg's poem about Walt Whitman...

I saw you, Walt Whitman, childless, lonely old grubber poking among the meats in the refrigerator and eyeing the grocery boys,
I heard you asking questions of each; Who killed the pork chops? What price bananas? Are you
my Angel?

--from "A Supermarket in California"

[HCE SuiGeneris]

6. Or Kurt Vonnegut and Frank Zappa

Their commentary would be greatly appreciated.

[skooooo]

7. The puritan more-liberal-than thous on DU would hate him.

Because he embodied contradiction - and a lot of people around here can't take that.

[eleny]

9. At least we have the Dali Lama

The sum of his philosophy is to be kind to others. Not something I can always accomplish but a good guidepost.