Hawking his new novel on Wednesday's NBC Today, author Josh Bazell launched into a rant against the GOP and Rick Santorum specifically: "If I were to create a character who, say, had been the senator from Pennsylvania...get up at a debate and say that global warming was a hoax and that we had to change the Constitution to limit the rights of gay people. No one would believe that." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
Bazell, son of NBC medical correspondent Robert Bazell, further proclaimed: "And if I said then, you know, that the entire Republican establishment sat quietly through this, no one stood up and said, 'You know, that's a crazy man talking,' it would just seem like I was being biased." For his part, weatherman Al Roker simply nodded along with the liberal screed, offering no objection.
Bazell concluded: "If you're going to approach the Republican establishment, which I wanted to do in a book about sort of belief and the policies that come from rationality vs. irrationality, you kind of have to skirt towards the real."
As an afterthought, Roker remarked: "But you can probably do just the same with the – on the Democratic side as well." Bazell assured him: "Oh, absolutely. And in fact, I do a little bit in the book." However, Bazell refrained from smearing Democrats on air.
Here is a transcript of Roker's February 8 exchange with Bazell:
9:46AM ET
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AL ROKER: But there's a lot of dark humor, and also, I got to love a book where there's a former mob hitman turned doctor and you also work Sarah Palin in.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: "Wild Thing"; Bazell's Tale: Jaws, Lionel Azimuth & Sarah Palin]
JOSH BAZELL [AUTHOR, WILD THING]: Yeah, yeah. She needed to be there. You know it's, there's certain things that it's hard to do realistically in a novel. For instance, if I were to create a character who, say, had been the senator from Pennsylvania, as Rick Santorum was – Rick Santorum does not appear in the novel – and I had this character get up at a debate and say that global warming was a hoax and that we had to change the Constitution to limit the rights of gay people. No one would believe that.
ROKER: No.
ROKER: Yeah.
BAZELL: If you're going to approach the Republican establishment, which I wanted to do in a book about sort of belief and the policies that come from rationality vs. irrationality, you kind of have to skirt towards the real. Obviously it's not-
ROKER: But you can probably do just the same with the – on the Democratic side as well.
BAZELL: Oh, absolutely. And in fact, I do a little bit in the book.
ROKER: In fact, the book has been so successful Leonardo DiCaprio has optioned it, it's going to be an HBO series.
BAZELL: Correct.
ROKER: That's pretty cool stuff.
BAZELL: It is, it's awesome.
ROKER: Wow, well, congratulations. It is a terrific book, it is called "Wild Thing." And I just love this character, I think everybody else will too.
BAZELL: Thanks so much, and I love your books.
ROKER: Oh, thank you, Josh. That's high praise indeed coming from you. I thank you.
