Articles by David Roberts
David Roberts was a staff writer for Grist. You can follow him on Twitter, if you're into that sort of thing.
All Articles
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More than you wanted to know about the hurricane aftermath
I suppose I should probably blog about something else at some point, but I can't stop reading about the aftermath of Katrina. It's making me sick to my stomach -- the incompetence, the callousness, the racism. It's a national humiliation, the fallout of which will be with us for decades. Unlike the response to 9/11, about which we are so eager to gush -- oh, the heroism! the unity! -- here we want viscerally to turn away because our own pathologies have been revealed, and those pathologies don't sit well with the American triumphalism currently in vogue.
As you can see, I have nothing but bile and sorrow to add to the conversation. So here are some more reading and listening materials, if you can stand it (sorry, I've lost track of where I found many of them, so the attribution is spotty):
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Bush administration finally mobilizing
Under the command of President Bush's two senior political advisers, the White House rolled out a plan this weekend to contain the political damage from the administration's response to Hurricane Katrina.
It orchestrated visits by cabinet members to the region, leading up to an extraordinary return visit by Mr. Bush planned for Monday, directed administration officials not to respond to attacks from Democrats on the relief efforts, and sought to move the blame for the slow response to Louisiana state officials, according to Republicans familiar with the White House plan.
The effort is being directed by Mr. Bush's chief political adviser, Karl Rove, and his communications director, Dan Bartlett. -
Americans dying
Six days after the hurricane hit, there are thousands in New Orleans still stranded, their lives in imminent danger from thirst, hunger, and unmedicated illness.
I find it inconceivable.
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