Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the first American hardcore bands to make a significant impact in the United Kingdom. Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, satirizing establishment political figures (liberal and conservative) and authority in general, as well as popular culture and even the punk movement itself. During their initial incarnation between 1978 and 1986, they attracted considerable controversy for their provocative lyrics and artwork. Several stores refused to stock their recordings, provoking debate about censorship in rock music; in
The Kennedys (miniseries) website stopkennedysmears.com was registered by filmmaker Robert Greenwald as part of the critical response to "The Kennedys". On February 24, 2010 Dave Itzkoff of "The New York Times" reported that historian David Talbot, whose recent book had been used as source material for the miniseries, had joined those preemptively criticizing "The Kennedys". Ted Sorensen (1928-2010), former presidential aide and speech writer for 35th President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963, served 1961-1963), described the script as a "character assassination". At the time of all of this criticism, the miniseries had not yet even been cast. In an interview published in "The Los