Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is running for the US Senate.  He is a well-liked and popular figure in his state.  But it has come out that he lied about his military service.  He claimed that he served in Vietnam, but did no such thing.  He was in the military during the Vietnam years  --  the Marine Corps Reserve, after having received draft deferments while in college  --  but he never went overseas.

This all came out in the New York Times last week.  Blumenthal admitted to "mis-speaking," whatever that means, but would not apologize until yesterday.  On Sunday, he sent an e-mail to a Connecticut newspaper saying in part, "At times when I have sought to honor veterans, I have not been as clear or precise as I should have been about my service in the Marine Corps Reserves. I have firmly and clearly expressed regret and taken responsibility for my words."

This will not do.  Blumenthal's failure did not lie in insufficient clarity or precision while attempting to honor others; that is defense-lawyer talk.  His failure lay in telling a false story in order to make himself look better.

Blumenthal should end his campaign.  Indeed he should do more:  He should resign as Attorney General.  Public confidence in the rectitude and honesty of the state's chief law enforcement officer is essential.  Without it, there are bound to be questions about the integrity and, perhaps, the political shading of what has been going on in Blumenthal's office.

This is not a partisan suggestion.  The state is overwhelmingly Democratic and the Senate seat is likely to remain in Democratic hands one way or the other.  This is especially so now that the Republicans appear to have put forward political novice Linda McMahon, whose principal "qualifications" are (1) that she's married to the head of the august World Wrestling Federation, and (2) that she has no known conservative views.