Did you hear the one about the senator who walked into a communist awards ceremony?

With the year nearing its end, Sen. Richard Blumenthal made a late bid for his own award — the year's egg-on-your-face award in Connecticut politics. (For those who miss the sarcasm, that's not really a thing.)

Conservative talk venues had a field day with Blumenthal's decision to attend the annual Amistad Awards ceremony Dec. 11 hosted by the Connecticut People's World Committee, a state affiliate of the Communist Party USA.

Blumenthal said later he did not know of the group's association with communist ideology and would not have attended if he did. That would amount to a major failure by Blumenthal's planners. But we sympathize with their plight. Blumenthal, it can be said, would attend a letter opening if organizers could assure a crowd. He gets around.

The senator is a strong advocate for progressive policies — a federal $15 minimum wage, government programs to provide childcare, higher taxes on the rich and corporations, for example. But it is laughable to label him a communist sympathizer, as much as right-wing talk radio might try. He is one of the richest senators, a man whose family's vast fortune — an estimated $100 million — comes from huge New York real estate holdings, a most un-communist thing.

"Let me just say very emphatically, I'm a Democrat and a strong believer in American capitalism. I have been consistently a Democrat and a strong supporter and believer in American capitalism," the senator told the Hartford Courant when asked about his appearance and speech at the event.

Democratic leaders dismissed the handwringing by Republicans as much ado about nothing. We are sure those Democrats, and Blumenthal, would be understanding and forgiving if a Republican senator attended a white-supremacist meeting and then explained they hadn't known about the group's background.

The Connecticut communists gave awards to state Senator Julie Kushner (who also later said she was unaware of the group's background) for her work in the legislature's adoption of paid family and medical leave and a $15 an hour minimum wage in Connecticut; to Waterbury Pastor Rodney Wade for his social justice work; and labor organizer Azucena Santiago for taking on McDonald's.

All well and good, but the fact is the ideology the organization espouses, whenever put into actual practice, has been totalitarian, intolerant of opposing political thought, and utilized political imprisonment and often murder on a massive scale. Blumenthal had no business attending. It was quite the blunder. He should make a New Year's resolution about making sure he knows all about the groups to which he agrees to speak.

The Day editorial board meets with political, business and community leaders to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Timothy Dwyer, Executive Editor Izaskun E. Larraneta, Owen Poole, copy editor, and Lisa McGinley, retired deputy managing editor. The board operates independently from The Day newsroom.