Have the ghosts of Joseph McCarthy and Richard Nixon risen? Is history in some strange way repeating itself? Let us look at some connections from the past to the present.

The young attorney who was at the side of the freshman Senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy during the 1950s Congressional Investigations on Communist in the Federal Government was Roy Cohn. Roy Cohn was also the personal attorney of Donald Trump at the early stages of his real estate business.

Roger Stone, a Republican political consultant, lobbyist and self-proclaimed “dirty trickster” worked on Richard Nixon's campaign. Roger Stone has also been connected with the early campaign of Donald Trump and was a partner in a consulting firm with Paul Manafort, a convicted felon.

Both Cohn and Stone have had shady and savory pasts, with Cohn being disbarred in 1986 and Roger Stone currently under indictment.

I find it troubling that the dark ghosts of our past have arisen. Our country and democracy are at a crossroad. Do we standby as the people of Nazi Germany did or do we have the courage, like former Senator Margaret Chase Smith, to make a “Declaration of Conscience?”

History will judge us.

L. Michael Clancy

Preston

Editor's note: Letter was updated to correct spelling of Cohn.