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Patrick Crowley

The Daily Patdown

An art project that sarcastically celebrated the TSA’s new airport patdowns.

A Daily Patdown post, with a photo of a TSA agent in blue gloves patting down a woman in a red dress

The Daily Patdown was an art project that lampooned the TSA’s new policy of patting down flyers at airports. It was a clear loss of freedom, so I celebrated it, sarcastically, with “your daily dose of security theater.”

From December 2010 to April 2012, the blog posted more than 140 photos and videos of patdowns in progress, along with an Add Patdown page for readers to send in their own.

It caught on quickly. Wonkette called it “America’s Sexiest New Website,” and HuffPost Comedy readers ranked it first in a roundup of sites to waste time on.

But in the end, I think we have to mourn the freedoms we lost after 9/11 with the rise of so much performative security theater.

A Daily Patdown post, with a photo of Santa Claus walking through airport security beside TSA agents
A Daily Patdown post, with a photo of a TSA agent patting down a woman dressed as an elf
The HuffPost Comedy front page on December 29, 2010, leading with “7 Sites You Should Be Wasting Time On Right Now”
The Daily Patdown appeared on the HuffPost Comedy front page.
HuffPost Comedy’s slideshow “7 Sites You Should Be Wasting Time On Right Now,” featuring The Daily Patdown, ranked first by readers
It was one of HuffPost Comedy’s “7 Sites You Should Be Wasting Time On Right Now.”
Wonkette’s post “America’s Sexiest New Website: The Daily TSA Patdown”
Wonkette’s take.