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John Whitehead's Commentary

Since 1996, John W. Whitehead has taken on everything from human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia, protection of religious freedom, and child pornography, to family autonomy issues, cross burning, the sanctity of human life, and the war on terrorism in his weekly opinion column. A self-proclaimed civil libertarian, Whitehead is considered by many to be a legal, political and cultural watchdog—sounding the call for integrity, accountability and an adherence to the democratic principles on which this country was founded.

Time and again, Whitehead hits the bull's eye with commentaries that are insightful, relevant and provocative. And all too often, he finds himself under fire for his frank and unadulterated viewpoint. But as he frequently remarks, "Anytime people find themselves under fire from both the liberal left and the conservative right, it means that that person is probably right on target."

Mr. Whitehead's commentaries have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Post, Washington Times and USA Today.

John W. Whitehead’s weekly commentaries are available for publication to newspapers and web publications at no charge.

Latest:

October 07, 2026

A smaller federal workforce does not necessarily mean smaller government. It may mean a larger government machine—one capable of watching, processing, investigating and targeting more people with fewer human beings standing in the way. As the Trump Administration cuts the federal workforce while racing to automate government with artificial intelligence, we could be witnessing something far more dangerous than bureaucratic downsizing: the rise of bureaucracy without bureaucrats, government without human restraint, and authoritarian power without accountability.


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