Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) blew up at a caller on C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" program Tuesday morning, after the caller lumped Blumenauer in with "leftists" who mistreated returning Vietnam veterans.
The call-in incident happened after one Vietnam veteran described to Blumenauer how war protesters threw urine and feces at him and other veterans years ago when they returned home to California.
Blumenauer did not react to that comment, but later, some C-SPAN callers apologized to that veteran for the treatment he endured. The last caller, from Oregon, accused "leftists like Mr. Blumenauer" of treating the veteran this way.
"I just want to reiterate the apology to the veteran who had feces and urine thrown on him, by leftists like Mr. Blumenauer, no doubt," she said.
"That's outrageous — I mean, that is just outrageous," Blumenauer interrupted.
"I spend a lot of time working on behalf of America's veterans. I was against the outrageous exercise in Iraq, but we've worked to try and make sure that these veterans are taken care of, support them when they leave, support them when they come back.
"I don't know what this woman is talking about, but I find that personally insulting, and it's not the way we treat them in Oregon.
"She can go on with her question, but the insults, I think, are just a little weird."
