According to CNN, this morning Obama spokesman David Wade called Sarah Palin a “leviathan of forensics.”

I can't get those words out of my head, and I'm beginning to think it's the best phrase anyone has ever uttered. I almost pissed myself laughing when I first heard it, and Wade now occupies a special place in my heart.

Contrast the austere pomposity of “leviathan”—the Bible, Hobbes, Melville, Auster—to the person he's describing. Coupled to the near-obsolete use of “forensics”—he wasn't talking about CSI: Miami—and it's perfect. Perfect!

Politics can be so ugly, it just warms my heart that this guy pulled such a ludicrous phrase out of his ass. He's my new hero. And it has nothing (well, very little) to do with partisan politics, or ill-will to Palin. Her recent PR troubles notwithstanding, she really isn't bad at, er, forensics, if you check her past debates on YouTube. And Biden is a well-known loose cannon, so it could go either way.

But “Leviathan of Forensics,” it's just too good. Here's the full quote from CNN's politicalticker:

“She's very skilled and she'll be well-prepared,” said Barack Obama’s chief strategist David Axelrod Sunday night, flying with Biden back to Delaware to help him get ready.

“As you saw at the convention she can be very good. So, I think it would be foolish to assume that this isn’t going to be a really challenging debate. We're preparing for that, on that assumption.”

Taking it one step farther, Biden spokesman David Wade later added, “He's going in here to debate a leviathan of forensics, who has debated five times and she's undefeated.”

Labels: Auster, best, David Wade, forensics, Hobbes, leviathan, Melville, Sarah Palin