It's Bush's Way or the Highway on Guantanamo Bay

Specter made a tight smile. "How much evidence should be presented to key people detained in Guantanamo in enemy combatant status?" he queried.

"That's a policy question," Bradbury rejoined, sitting on the edge of his chair.

Specter, irritated, furrowed his brow. "What's your recommendation to Congress to establish the policy?"

Bradbury replied that the matter "should be left up to the Department of Defense."

This prompted a harangue from the chairman. "We're not going to leave it to the Department of Defense or give the Department of Defense a blank check," he said.

Specter should have known he was in trouble when Bradbury ignored the five-minute time limit for opening statements, prompting the chairman to ask, "How much longer will you require?" In the end, Specter let the witnesses have the last word; he had been summoned to the White House. "I'm going to have to excuse myself," the chairman said less than two hours into the proceedings, handing the gavel to Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).

Specter did get one measure of revenge. Early in the session, two women from the left-wing group Code Pink raised signs in the press section demanding: "CLOSE GUANTANAMO." Police stepped in to remove the activists, but Specter whispered instructions to an aide, who told the cops to stand down.

Still, the administration may be correct that lawmakers won't defy Bush on the tribunals. Democrats seemed more eager to talk about other things. Russell Feingold (Wis.) spoke about the wiretapping program, while Joseph Biden (Del.) announced his seventh trip to Iraq. "I'm telling you guys, things ain't good in Happy Valley," he said. Leahy snuck in the word "cockamamie," while Charles Schumer (N.Y.) countered with "lollapalooza."

But Bradbury and Dell'Orto may also have noticed that they were getting less than a full defense from the GOP side. When Bradbury rejected Graham's approach to the tribunals, Graham issued a warning. "If you fight that approach, it's going to be a long, hot summer," he told Bradbury.

When Dell'Orto repeated Bradbury's defiance in a later round of questions, Graham raised his voice. "You didn't consult with us when you created the military commissions," he said. "I'm not going to respond to some product that was enacted without any consultation."

Hatch, wielding Specter's gavel, quickly ended the session and dismissed the witnesses. Graham shook his head and rolled his eyes.