HBO’s original programming has never catered to conservatives; since the premium cable giant ramped up production in the mid-1990s, its target audience has always been progressive, urban 20- and 30-somethings. But recently, HBO content has been exceptionally hostile toward the GOP.

First, there was the HBO Original Movie “Game Change,” which sought to morph Sarah Palin from “inexperienced ditz” to “full retard,” by alleging that when the would-be VP was selected by John McCain, she thought that the Queen ran England and that Sadaam Hussein was responsible for the 9/11 terror plot. Then, there was last week’s news that the show “Game of Thrones” had used George Bush’s likeness as one of the many severed heads seen in Season 1 (an offense for which HBO, to their credit, apologized).

Now comes “True Blood” creator Alan Ball touting to The Wrap‘s Sharon Waxman that this season of the show was inspired by GOP primary candidate Rick Santorum:

For me the jumping off point was watching the Republican primaries, watching Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, and asking what would it be like to have a theocracy in America – which is way more terrifying than any fictional monster could ever be. Our jumping off point was “OK, what is a vampire theocracy?” You don’t really see vampires being religious creatures. They are excluded from God. But what if there was a vampire bible? A religion? Theocracy? How would that impact our human characters, or vampire characters? I haven’t really seen that before.

What’s terrifying is how many people agree with [Rick Santorum]. Chris Meloni comes in, he is the guardian of the blood. Supposedly they have a vial of blood of the first vampire – like a Catholic icon. The governing body of vampires is like the Catholic church plus the Supreme Court for vampires. But it’s a very secret organization.

Funny how Hollywood lefties like Ball constantly bemoan the lack of civility in American politics, but see no problem making statements like this. Can you imagine the outcry if a prominent Republican figure said that Obama’s plans for the country were “way more terrifying than any fictional monster could ever be”?

More than anything, these statements show that Ball has little faith in his material. If he thought the writing on this season of “True Blood” was strong, then he would have no problem leaving this commentary implicit in the show, allowing viewers to discover and chew on the Santorum influence themselves, rather than being told it exists.

I’m actually a big “True Blood” fan, but the first few episodes of this season are still sitting on my DV-R. After reading this pathetic interview, I’m considering hitting the delete button rather than the play button.