(CBS) But his bare-knuckled approach to political discourse has made him an easy target for conservative junkyard dogs like Sean Hannity.

The right went wild when it was reported he said he'd move out of the country if George Bush were elected.

"I never said that," Baldwin says. "I said, 'It might be a good time to leave the country.' There's a big difference between that and promising to leave the country. And even if I did, who cares? What difference would that make in anyone lives, you know?"

"Your eloquence, if that’s the word, can get you into deep trouble," Safer remarks.

"So I don't make the eloquent point so eloquently, is that what you're saying?" Baldwin asks.

"Or you make them perhaps excessively eloquent, as in your description of Dick Cheney, who you said was a sociopath and a terrorist. And you later apologized by just calling him a lying, thieving oil whore and a murderer of the U.S. Constitution," Safer replies.

"You know, all the cameramen are cracking up. So, there is an audience out there. It may only be five or six men," Baldwin says.

"One, two…," Safer counts.

"Who are union technicians in Manhattan. But I've got that crowd. I've got them," Baldwin says.

His passion-paired with a total inability to keep his mouth shut-has also made him a favorite target of the tabloids. He was dubbed "the Bloviator," and was shown no mercy when his marriage unraveled.

"You described your ex-wife's lawyer as a 300-pound homunculus with a face like a clenched fist," Safer says.

"I was being kind, Morley. I was being kind," Baldwin jokes.

"It's up there in the pantheon of abusive remarks, correct?" Safer asks.

"Yeah. Well, I think that people who treat someone the way I was treated during that case, you respond to them, I don't view that as abusive," Baldwin says.

He says his divorce from Basinger was devastating, and the custody fight over their daughter was brutal. It all took a physical toll on Baldwin.

"I didn't care how I looked, I didn't care if I took care of myself or those things. I just couldn't be bothered," Baldwin says.

But the ravages of time and indifference have some positive side effects: he’s become sought after to play characters who are not leads, but who add a certain authenticity, like his role as a casino boss in "The Cooler."

The Cooler got him an Oscar nomination and led to more scene-stealing roles in films like "The Aviator" and "The Departed," both directed by Martin Scorsese.

"He has an extraordinary ability to listen to the other actor. It's all going on in his face and in his eyes, and his extraordinary consummate timing, whether it’s dramatic or comic actually," Scorsese explains. "I can't wait to work with him again. He’s a damn good actor, who is dependable, and who can really give you the goods."

Produced by Deirdre Naphin and Katy Textor
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