Rearranging Reality

The news this morning brings to our attention two individuals who feel sure they have the right to arrange reality to their own liking. Prince Harry of England has been found out on the front lines in Afghanistan, trying to pretend he's just another one of the guys. Saskatchewan farmer Robert Latimer, the man who rearranged his reality by killing his own daughter, has been granted day parole much to the dismay of many.
Prince Harry, poor spoiled little rich boy is going to be forced back to the reality of his pampered, sheltered life now that news of his deployment in Afghanistan has been broadcast worldwide. Sir Richard Dannatt, head of the British Army will be much relieved. He was the one who convinced his political superiors that 'arry's presence in Iraq would be totally counterproductive.
With the deal struck with the British media to keep the big news to themselves, Dannatt said the risk in deploying the prince "was manageable". The risk was in guarding the safety of the "bullet magnet" known as Second Lieutenant Harry Wales. What other soldier has special measures taken to guard them? No-one else represents the same target value to the Taliban as this game-playing British royal does. When asked why he had wanted to be there, Harry had no altruism reasons to offer. No, the third-in-line to the throne just wanted a chance to pretend that he is someone else. Said Harry, being dressed in the same uniform as the others "will give me one of the best chances to be just a normal person".
Newsflash, Harry. The reality is, you are not just another person. You come from a pampered lifestyle that is anything but the norm. You've done pretty good at dealing with it before on your nightclub rounds. If you're tired of partying, try involving yourself in some worthwhile causes like your mother did, but stop playing games that put others at risk. It's time to take yourself off home, Harry, and thereby make the front lines just a wee bit safer for your former comrades-in-arms.
Robert Latimer, on the other hand, has never known the privilege that Harry has, but he joins the prince in his disconnect from reality, nonetheless. Latimer has now served just seven years of a sentence that stipulated he serve a minimum of ten before any parole, after his conviction on a second-degree murder charge. He had asphyxiated his daughter Tracy in the cab of his truck after deciding that she needed to be put out of her pain. But Latimer had alternatives to that horrendous choice he made. There was help available to him and his family. There was laughter and love available to Tracy. There was life, until he decided he had the right to take it away. The concern in the disabled community today is that the parole granted to Latimer represents a dangerous, precedent setting acceptance of his decision to rearrange reality on behalf of someone unable to defend herself against him.
Marie White, chair of the Council of Canadians with Disabilities asks a valid question when she wonders if the board "would have reversed the decision (to deny parole) if Tracy had been a non-disabled child"?
There are many "realities" we should all struggle together to rearrange - global warming; the scourge of AIDS in Africa; the state of affairs on Canada's native reserves - the list goes on and on. There is one thing they all have in common, however, and it is that they each would serve to ameliorate conditions for others. None of them seek to serve the selfish interests of one individual only who is willing to ignore the safety and right to life of those around them.