Morgan Freeman's lovely wars

Image: Dogs of War

Morgan Freeman loves war and now he has a lovely one of his own.

'I did not assault women': Morgan Freeman responds to allegations
Actor responds to report of eight people claiming misconduct
Statement: ‘80 years of my life is at risk of being undermined’

Shades of Bill Clinton's: "I did not have sex with that woman"... uh, what'sername.

“Clearly I was not always coming across the way I intended,” he said. “And that is why I apologized Thursday and will continue to apologize to anyone I might have upset, however unintentionally.”

Freeman apologized (if you can call it that) because his lawyer directed him to. The rest of his script is being written for him as we speak. For now, it's just the response all the MeToo lawyers are advising to start with.

They think it shows good faith. But the terms used are always self-exonerating. The words "might have" and "unintentionally" actually negate the apology because how can one apologize for something of which one is innocent?

What he's really saying is, "I'm sorry you got upset for no reason".

Normally I avoid discussing the "MeToo" campaign.  It seems obvious to me that if you've ever been a woman working in a man's world you have experienced some variation of what these women are complaining about.

Besides, I don't know the men involved personally, nor the women complaining about them, nor the political aims that could be behind some of the allegations.

But, having said that, I do believe that Morgan Freeman is a quietly ruthless individual. Up until now, I've been basing my opinion on a single comment he made in the early days after 9/11, way back when I used to watch the TV news. Up until that time I'd always had a soft spot for Freeman; but suddenly I realized his insides are a block of ice.

When Bush's horrendous wars began, the media asked Freeman what he thought about it, and he replied quite coolly: "I'm sure the president knows what he's doing."

Since then, those words have always echoed in my brain whenever I've heard or read his name. At first I tried to excuse him because I thought his colour may have made him a bit too circumspect. But later I realized: he's insanely successful career-wise and he has no reason to fear what the media might think of him.

The man truly is a war monger, a believer in an Islamic threat to America. He isn't repelled by the horrors of war as long as it doesn't happen on his street. And as far as I know, he's never expressed regret over the unspeakable devastation that occurred in Iraq based on now-proven lies!

Freeman may not be an actual rapist - that remains to be adjudicated - but given the hidden aggression his political words suggest, I can believe almost anything cruel about him now. It's too bad, because I really liked him until he opened his mouth without a movie script.

And now he's obligingly jumped on the "Russian threat" bandwagon in a no-holds-barred video for which he was very well-scripted by the makers of the film, The Committee to Investigate Russia.

He may have been joking when he said in an interview, "... if I believe in God, and I do, it's because I think I'm God" -- but he's not the kindly gentleman he's been portrayed as.

Maybe he's what I would call a "man's man".

A man's man is secretly intimidated by other men (it's the animal dominance thing - the same thing that causes wars) and so becomes "a good old boy" to gain favour. He drinks with the guys, plays golf with them, cackles at their lewd jokes -- and then compensates by asserting dominance over women. A big part of being a "man's man" is also being a "skirt chaser".

It was established in a court of law that Freeman was neither a monogamous man nor a truthful one, and he may have been always on the make. That could well have included suggestive comments, gestures and deeds that some women might not appreciate.

As a result, he's suddenly not in good graces anywhere that it counts, despite a lifetime of holding up his end as one of the boys. If he thinks about it for a second, he'll have a clue how Putin might be feeling.

SAG 'reviewing' Morgan Freeman lifetime achievement honor following harassment allegations

• One woman, who said she was a production assistant on Freeman's film "Going in Style," said that while filming in 2015, Freeman subjected her to unwanted touching of her lower back and comments about her figure on a near-daily basis.

"Unwanted touching" of the lower back may seem mild to some people, but it gives me the willies. I've experienced it (I think I must have been pretty cute in my younger days) and believe me, it's icky to the max.

It's done only to women; men touch/pat other men on the upper back.

Having said all that, there is one thing I can respect about Freeman and it's that he doesn't like Black History month: 

Transcript of Mike Wallace Interview: "I don`t want a Black History Month. Black history is American history."

I don't like what I call "Hallmark" observances either. In fact, I often hole up alone to avoid them. They are the antithesis of Freedom because people are made to feel guilty if they don't participate in the prescribed ways.

But enough about me.

WALLACE: How are we going to get rid of racism until...? 

FREEMAN: Stop talking about it. I`m going to stop calling you a white man. And I`m going to ask you to stop calling me a black man. I know you as Mike Wallace. You know me as Morgan Freeman. You`re not going to say, "I know this white guy named Mike Wallace." Hear what I`m saying?

Agreed. Although, if that's an accurate quote, then he may have made a Freudian slip.  He said, "You're" instead of "I'm".