Washington (CNN) - The ballroom at the Conservative Political Action Conference was divided Thursday between boos and cheers as two Republican giants faced the crowd.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney, a surprise guest, presented former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with the "Defender of the Constitution Award" at the annual conference of conservatives which this year has gained significance for being a cattle-call for potential GOP presidential candidates.
Just the mention of Rumsfeld's name drew boos from the crowd, and when Cheney took the stage two attendees screamed at him. One yelled "Where Bin Laden at?" and the other said "Show us the shackles Dick." Both comments were met with chants from the crowd of "U-S-A."
Both men served in the administration of former President George W. Bush and are considered key architects of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Cheney addressed the ruckus when he was eventually able to speak.
"Alright, sit down and shut up," Cheney told the crowd, which broke out in laughs. "It's the usual spirited exercise."
- CNN's Kevin Liptak contributed to this report
Finally a CPAC that I can get on board with!
Defender of the Constitution...LOLOLOL!
The chants should have been, You Screwed Us!"
They could not get Osama Bin Laden to present the award, so they got his American equal to bestow the honour on Rumsfeld.How romantic it must have been for both of them.
Remember these two men are Republicans and defend their rights to declare war which has killed and injured millions based upon lies. Bush can't leave the country and neither can these two criminals and now we have a new group of Republican crazies in Washington.
Rumsfeld and Cheney: Two people for whom I won't shed a tear when they leave this mortal coil ...
Thanks GOPs – these guys need to be reminded that they are reviled even within their own party. Appreciate your speaking up fro the rest of us.
'Former Vice President Dick Cheney, a surprise guest, presented former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with the "Defender of the Constitution Award"
The GOP starts a war for profit to pay back the war machine corporations and does it on the flag draped coffins of young Americans, and now the cons are giving out AWARDS for this atrocity?
"Alright, sit down and shut up,"
That is what we libs were told when we pointed out to King George I court of jesters that Bin Laden was not in Iraq and Iraq had nothing to do with the 9/11 attack.
Another ship of fools... and war criminals!
My most ardent hope is that Cheney gets his heart transplant and lives long enough to stand trial for treason and crimes against humanity. I do want so much to look us Americans and the rest of the world and justify the Iraq war, which was built on pack of fascist lies. But more importantly, I would like to ask him, and Bush, how they live with their decision to let 3,000 people die on 9/11 so they could have their lovely little war in Iraq that cost over 100,000 lives and trillions of dollars.
I can wait.... Egypt isn't the only country that needs democratic reforms!
Why aren't these two zombies behind bars????
wow, dr. strangelove and the grim reaper on the same stage with the meathead morons chanting usa, usa. reminds me of kristallnacht. btw, if rumsfeld got the constitution award (way too funny), who got the torture award?
Defenders of the Constitution? War Criminals both.
They can stroke each others egos for history !
These guys almost ran this country into the dumpster !
It's not too late to run Cheney for President in 2012 since no Bush family member is running. He's younger than John McCain was when he ran in 2008.
Two murderers with no place in society. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Awesome! They even allow criminals to speak and pat each other on the back. Didn't they give enough, ahem, awards in the back rooms while in office?
This is like Goebell giving Goring a Medal for "Clearing the Air Over England". Neither of these two have ever read the US Constitution.
Boy how hard up is this group that they needed these two has beens to show up. Pretty damn sad. I'm sure Rumsfield and Cheney were happy because no one else wants them.
Wow, one war criminal giving another war criminal an award...........brought a tear to my eye.......This is the GOP
Two crooks talking to a bunch of sheep.
why don't this old junk of America stay home and enjoy....what an idiotic thugs these two thugs...
Why aren't these two in jail?
Cheney is bigger crook than his old boss Nixon ever was. Nixon was a saint compared to Bush/Cheney.
War profiteers, clearly. Totally controlled by the corporations that profit from war. America today is not a democracy. The Supreme Court handed America to the corporations.