John C. McAdams

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John C. McAdams (1945–2021) was an associate professor of political science at Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He had a generally undistinguished career but is notable for the website The Kennedy Assassination Home Page,[1] which was created in 1995 and still looks like it.

In an internet awash in conspiracy theories about the Kennedy assassination, McAdams' website has become essential by default as one of the few websites for people looking for facts and sanity about the events of 1963. As a result, McAdams has become the Emmanuel Goldstein of the JFK conspiracy buffs, who subject him to penetrating and insightful inquiries like wondering if he is a "CIA disinformation asset, or just plain Crackpot?"[2]

Otherwise, he was a Walmart shill,[3] ultraconservative, pro-capital punishment campaigner (even once testifying as an expert before Congress[4]) who ran a blog devoted to criticizing liberals and "political correctness" (which seems to just refer to stuff he didn't like), focused on Marquette University.[5] In 2014 McAdams was suspended after he criticized another professor for allegedly prohibiting criticism of homosexuality in her classes.[6] The university maintained this was actually because he had published the names of both the professor and a student, violating privacy rules, saying it was his third violation.[7] His full reinstatement required McAdams to write a letter of apology, which he refused.[8] After a lawsuit, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled for McAdams and ordered him reinstated.[9] McAdams died on April 15, 2021.[10]

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