The people who made Better This World – Katie Galloway, Kelly Duane de la Vega, Mike Nicholson, David Layton and Greg O’Toole — have committed so many blatant breaches of journalistic and filmmaking ethics that it’s going to take me a while to even get through a handful. I’m a big believer in frees speech but these people have gone so far over the line that I hope appropriate action is taken against them.
Here’s a video I made exposing how they use footage dishonestly.
The Original Contexts Of The Interviews
At 4:30 and 6:50 here…
At 9:30 and 13:00 …
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
What’s being illustrated in the first video by the filmmakers (based on my impression of my personal viewing of the entire film) is Brandon Darby’s inclination toward an incitement of violent and illegal behavior. I could tell when I watched it that he was not talking to the kids involved in the RNC action. The RNC organization obviously happened without camera crew participation, but this is exactly the kind of language Brandon Darby was known for using (as stated in the film many times). Seemed really obvious. I guess in fairness they could have posted a date, or a clarification, but as you said, the sign in the background is pretty legible and clear.
I had the misfortune of meeting Mr. Darby several times after Katrina, and he clearly had as his personal agenda the goal of persuading someone, anyone, to engage in extreme tactics against authority. He’s probably working to do the same with Teabaggers now. It’s just his thing. Everyone that met him at that time said the same thing to me and pulled away from him immediately. My girlfriend and I were convinced he was a Fed or a cop immediately upon meeting him, as he was encouraging us to tell him who was interested in “real” revolutionary action within minutes of meeting us. Fortunately for our community the need to do solid work to rebuild our city meant there was no one around for him to bully and coerce. When nothing worked and no one felt the need to join him, he left. And good riddance.
These filmmakers are not lying, they are merely illustrating (using available footage) what the kid in the orange jumper is saying, that this guy used this kind of language and this kind of insistence to entice them to do something they wouldn’t have done on their own. I get it. You don’t?
ps. what do you mean by “appropriate action”?
Then why place the scene where they did in the film? Are you saying it’s clear in the clips that he is talking about Katrina? Because — it’s not. On purpose.
But you made it clear — you have an axe to grind with Darby.
Why not explain what he’s actually talking about…
I didn’t have to go to any trouble to see that he was in New Orleans, in front of a Common Ground poster, but it was nice of you to blow it up just a little so I could read it without my glasses.
The film repeatedly places him in New Orleans prior to the RNC. Are you arguing that average people can’t come to logical conclusions themselves when watching documentaries? And why would anyone who cared at all about this case only watch this segment?
And yes, of course I have an axe to grind with anyone that behaved the way he did in New Orleans. I’m very, very not alone in my experience. And I keep a wide circle of friends. He didn’t just raise my hackles, believe me.
I found it extremely insulting to meet a man that suggested that people needed to “get serious” (i’m being reserved on purpose in my language…his own language was much more incendiary) about fighting authority in a situation as tense and traumatic as life-after-Katrina was for all of us. Counter-productive, arrogant and stupid would be the only useful adjectives to describe that kind of childishness when faced with the kind of personal loss and lack of stability so many were suffering. Dick move.
And that’s as deep as my axe grinds, because I didn’t know anyone involved in what happened in Austin. I’m not even making the case for them. (I found their argument to be disappointing as well.) I’m just pointing out that yes, an entirely selective viewing of this documentary (merely this clip, for instance) might confuse the average viewer as to the timeline of events. But, to anyone that bothered to watch the documentary fully, the directors clearly had no access to the planning of the RNC event, and subsequently used footage that made their point about Brandon Darby’s modus operandi. And were they wrong? Is he not that kind of person? Did he not, at that time, encourage and instigate people to “revolutionary” action? You bet your ass he did. Because he did it in my city and we thought he was an asshole.
Just because you’re able to point out that he is talking about Katrina during that segment doesn’t dismiss the fact that this is the way he spoke frequently, and with the express intent to motivate others to more extreme actions. If anything this clip proves that he was inclined to such language not only involving to the men in this case, but previously in New Orleans as well.
But fine. You tell me…in that clip, what is he actually talking about?
You’re defending Mr. Darby. So may I venture a guess that you may have an axe of your own in the game as well? Care to state your affinities and disclaimers?
And you still didn’t say what you meant by “appropriate action”.
And just so you know I’m not grinding my axe with you, but just your argument, I really enjoyed the garlic video. Peeling garlic is my least favorite thing to do in the kitchen. That video changed my life.