Was that a hint of sarcasm we heard coming from the mouth of the New York Times executive editor when referring to the Bush administration? On the Media’s Brooke Gladstone has Bill Keller examining the things he and his crew have to handle in Iraq:

“In the constellation of things that we have to do that deal with Iraq, including, you know, keeping a large number of correspondents safe and making sure that the story gets well covered and figuring out what the geniuses in Washington propose to do about the war, the discussion of whether or not we use the words “civil war” or not to describe it, you know, don’t rank high on the list of priorities.”

You can hear Keller’s sarcasm about 5 minutes in.

While we’re on turns of phrase, last week’s show had a few doozies from National Journal‘s William Powers:

“Under the Democratic Congress, I think it’s going to be a bit yeastier, and for journalists, frankly, a little bit more fun than that first week of headlines would suggest. … There is something about the Democrats that is a little bit more Marx Brothers. I mean, obviously the Republicans have these incidents, too. Cheney with the gun — I mean, my goodness, you know, that was a Jon Stewart gift from heaven.”

And he says that journos are Dems, but fair (and balanced?) nevertheless:

“Let’s face it, all the studies show that journalists do tend to vote Democratic in huge numbers, so there is a sympathy there, a political sympathy. But I don’t think it’s necessarily reflected in the coverage, and I think we’re going to see that in the coverage of this Congress.”