Dave Hannah

Why I haven’t been talking about Tori…

Friday, May 22, 2009

Somebody asked me a thought provoking question the other day. They said “hey Dave, you know it’s kind of weird. You always talk about current events and things happening in the news on the radio but I haven’t heard you say anything about the arrests in the Tori Stafford case…why?” I find it very interesting that someone noticed. It’s not an oversight on my part. It is most definitely intentional. I will try to explain. Every day I hear the helicopters circling overhead. OPP choppers and news choppers engaged in a game of tag. Red ones, blue ones. Helicopters used to excite me. I am an aviation nut. We seldom saw a chopper fly over our house so I would always grab the kids and bring them outside to see the “whirly bird”. No more. That’s because every time I hear the rotors beating the air I get a mental image of poor Tori Stafford. Not the image we have all seen on TV or in the newspapers, but an imagine of Tori’s body, discarded and thrown away like an unwanted doll. It is so unfair that it makes me seethe with rage. How could anyone do this to a child? How is it possible that anyone could possess such a twisted mind? I am trying to be fair. This is Canada and our justice system functions on the premise that one is innocent until proven guilty. Until they have their day in court those charged in the Tori Stafford case are to be assumed not guilty. I will be perfectly honest with you…I am having a very hard time with that. I want justice so badly that I find myself mentally convicting the accused every time I see them. I imagine the inhumane and cruel things that I would like to do to them. This is wrong. Very wrong. This is why I have not said anything on the radio about this case. I am afraid of my own feelings. I don’t trust myself to remain unbiased. Until I have come to grips with my own emotions I will remain strangely mute. I hope that will change…soon.