"Even the President of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked."

So wrote Bob Dylan in 1965 as he sang to the civil rights movement and Vietnam war demonstrators. He sang it through the Nixon years. He's still singing it today.

For over sixty years on this spinning orb, I have been told/heard/believed that America is the Home of the Brave, and the greatest democracy in the world. I think I was right, once. I'm not right now. American "democracy" has become the laughing stock of the world. A political system where the elected leader (best check the legitimacy of the 2016 US election result) can simply declare a National Emergency and appropriate billions of dollars for a policy opposed by the majority of the Congress and the population is not democracy. It's autocracy, and perilously close to something worse. The country is not brave; a brave country would somehow remove the greatest threat to world peace, decency and the democratic process in its proud history. A brave country wouldn't have elected a man so manifestly unqualified , so astoundingly incompetent, and so incredibly self serving as leader in the first place. Corrupt? Who knows, time will tell. Something's not quite right when you poll 3 million votes less than your opponent but win the race.

Donald Trump is not a great leader. He's not even a leader. A leader surrounds herself or himself with smart people that will push and challenge her, not a pack of gutless, obsequious "yes people" interested only in preserving and furthering their own position. A leader listens and takes advice. A leader acts in the interests of those they serve, not in their own or their family's interest. A leader operates to a set of higher principles, not to the unprincipled expectations of the small number of voters whose support is essential to gain and sustain power. A leader does most everything Donald Trump doesn't do, and doesn't do most things he does. A leader doesn't seek to divide his/her constituency, but strives to bring it together.

I grew up respecting America for being the leader, not any more. I served alongside the US military on several occasions through my own military service. Terrific people, committed soldiers. I listened to my parents tell me how America saved Australia in the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942; I believed it true then, as I believe it now and was forever grateful. I've know many Americans, and have always been struck by their openness and warmth. I want, I think most of us want, to have America on our side, to look to their leadership, and be able to reach out and say, "friend". At some stage as adults, we should all look into the mirror, look deep inside ourselves and ask, "Am I being the best I can be? What can I do better? What poor habits have I slipped into that have made me less than what I once was?" This is the challenge for all people, and for all nations.This is the challenge for America today.

It is well known that things happen faster today than they used to. Technology is developed, implemented and becomes obsolete in ever decreasing cycle times. Compare the uptake of the telegraph, wireless, television, the internet, email. The Jumbo jet lasted 50 years, the A-380 13. Empires crumble faster. The Roman Empire lasted around 500 years, the British empire barely 300 years, the Thousand year Reich 12 years. All collapsed through arrogance,corruption, complacency and inevitably a decline in morals. The American empire began with the Industrial Revolution, and has been built on an unstoppable economy, an incomparably powerful military and, crucially, a strong moral compass. The rise of China and the resurgence of Russia now challenge American leadership. The difference will be the moral leadership that America can choose to demonstrate; if they allow themselves to be dragged down to China and Russia's murky level in this dimension, the prospects of sustaining leadership in the other areas will be highly problematic. As John C Maxwell states, "Everything stands and falls on leadership". Such a simple statement has never been more true or more applicable than in America today.