These are men of conviction(s)

            Roger Stone's lineage that is like the circulatory system of political corruption in America. Like a Mafia family tree.

            The man with a tattoo of Richard Nixon on his back was one of the baby Dirty Tricksters behind the varied activities that got Nixon booted from the White House.

            He was close with Roy Cohn, Joseph McCarthy's side man in the Red Scare war on free thought.

            Stone takes credit for being the first to promote the idea of a President Donald Trump, and then made Trump his protégé.

            That makes sense. Back during the Army-McCarthy hearings, Army counselor Joseph Welch famously asked of the senator-inquisitor, "Have you no sense of decency?"

            In Donald Trump, Roger Stone found someone without any. Sense. Decency.

            "He'll say and do anything," Stone of our president to Politico's Michael Kruse. Stone really knows this guy.

            "Anything" would include shutting down the government over money to obtain a sliver of a wall only a minority of Americans wants and which he said Mexico would finance.

            "Anything" would include saying for all to hear, "Russia, if you're listening . . ." in urging on the quest of friendly hackers to assist his campaign.

            "Anything" would be the host of lies and ruses surrounding his campaign's involvement with Russian emissaries in 2016 and before, most serious being Michael Flynn's illegal diplomacy -- on behalf of the president-to-be -- offering Russia the lifting of sanctions without having any authority to do so.

            Now we have the arrest of Stone, an alleged go-between for the Trump campaign and Wikileaks on that matter of Russian-stolen emails.

            Stone says, "I will not testify against the president." If the president has done nothing illegal, why not share freely?

            Ah, the Watergate connection. Stone was one of the original "Plumbers" who did what they could to sabotage Richard Nixon's political opponents.

            What got Nixon removed from office was the aborted theft – by a team of Cuban emigres -- of materials from the Democrat National Committee.

            Damn. Foiled by the night watchman.

            Did young Roger Stone back then say, "The Plumbers will rise again"?

            Then, in 2016, did Stone say, "Mission accomplished," when high-tech Russians (not low-rent Cubans this time) broke into the electronic innards of the very same political organization and stole what they could?

            As this investigation proceeds, along with the indictments and convictions, people are assuming their positions in eerie parallelism.

            Paul Manafort (convicted), former Trump campaign manager, is John Mitchell (convicted), chairman of the Nixon campaign. Former national security advisor Flynn (convicted) is John Ehrlichman (convicted), Nixon's domestic policy advisor.

            Lesser players like deputy Trump campaign director Rick Gates (convicted), foreign adviser George Papadopoulos (convicted) are Nixon Plumbers Donald Segretti (convicted), Charles Colson (convicted).

            Ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen (convicted), is Nixon White House counsel John Dean (convicted). History will show both as taking star turns before congressional probes.

            So, who will Roger Stone play? Well, of course, G. Gordon Liddy (convicted), the guileful offensive coordinator of the Dirty Tricks campaign.

            Yes, back when Stone was a little Liddy, you know he dreamt about growing up to be a big Liddy. And in America, dreams do come true for one who will "say and do anything."

            We all know, of course, where this places Donald Trump in the 21st century remake of "All the President's Men."

            It may not have the same concluding scene. That's because of players in the Senate with the medical condition known as spinal mush. They are going to look everywhere but where the truth resides.

            None will step up to play the role of Howard Baker, ranking Republican on the Select Watergate Committee. Baker simply wanted the truth.

            So it will be up to the voters to do what Congress should, which is to remove a president so similar to all his sleazy pals.

            Hmmm, a great movie title: "All the President's Sleazy Pals."

            Longtime newspaperman John Young lives in Colorado. Email: jyoungcolumn@gmail.com.