State Department crows over rare inter-agency victory ... at softball

AFP ^ | Mon Aug 11, 5:23 PM ET

[presidio9]

Often on the losing end of inter-agency policy battles, the US State Department Monday announced a rare victory, proudly reporting its triumph in the government's annual softball tournament.

"We're number one!" Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) exclaimed to reporters outside the the State Department.

The State Department team was ranked only eighth going into the weekend playoffs but bested the number-five seeded Labor Department (news - web sites), the number-three seeded Environmental Protection Agency (news - web sites) and the second-seeded Justice Department (news - web sites) to win the championship, deputy spokesman Philip Reeker said.

"We're very proud of our ball players," he said of the team informally named 'Diplomatic Immunity'.

The State Department, widely viewed as the most liberal agency in the administration of conservative President George W. Bush (news - web sites), frequently fights and loses on foreign policy issues with more hawkish departments, notably the Defense Department.

The longstanding rivalry has assumed epic proportions particularly due to intense speculation over alleged fights between Powell and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Responding to a question about how the department had fared against its longtime rivals in the Pentagon (news - web sites), Reeker grinned and delivered a prepared response: "I have a note here (that says): 'If asked, the Defense Department's team did not make the playoffs'."

[KarlInOhio]

'If asked, the Defense Department's team did not make the playoffs'

The Defense Department is a little busy right now. However, if the State Department wants to play softball at least they will stay out of some trouble.