Cheney, Lieberman Reportedly Joke About Waterboarding at Private Roast

At the Plaza Hotel Monday evening, Dick Cheney, Joe Lieberman, Scooter Libby and other figures gathered for a roast of the former Vice President, with many of the jokes building off of Cheney’s role in the expansion of U.S. torture policy.

According to Ben Smith of BuzzFeed, the jokes “left few lines uncrossed” and “drew a mix of chuckles and winces.”

One source reported that ex-Senator Lieberman (D-CT) “said something to the effect that it’s nice that we’re all here at the Plaza instead of in cages after some war crimes trial.”

Apparently Cheney told one torture joke himself, in which he missed an antelope during a hunting contest and was so angry he wanted to waterboard the animal.

“There were some waterboarding jokes that were really tasteless,” one guest told Smith. “I can see the case for enhanced interrogation techniques after Sept. 11 but I can’t really endorse sitting there drinking wine and fancy dinner at the Plaza laughing uproariously about it.”

[h/t BuzzFeed]

[Images via WSJ, NCLR]

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