Politics, again, is the lead in this collection of items from the past that are down and dirty:

— Back in the day when Bill Clinton was president, and was going on national television to speak to the country about his alleged — at that point — misdeeds with Monica Lewinkski, I decided that as a beat reporter I would check out some of the watering holes and see how the Leader of the Free World’s “apology” was received. I took a barstool station at Pudge’s and it turned out the guy next to me was from Australia (see other item under Notes From the Beat) and also unfamiliar with American politics. He was here in the Twin Cities suburbs working construction. His take on Clinton’s situation: If the prime minister in Australia had such an extramarital affair, no one would bat an eyelash. However, if he did it and lied about it, his political career would be toast.
— That brings to mind the travails of one other visitor who traveled here from the ‘burbs. He however, did it via a taxi cab and the meter was kept running outside Pudge’s as he did what everyone else does here on a Sunday, watched a Packer football game! The guy was from Kuwait and was in the Minneapolis area on business — and had money to blow. Yet the local patrons were some of those who BOUGHT HIM drinks as they talked about the Green and Gold until the final whistle, then the foreigner went back to his hotel.
— There are other prominent people who have stopped at Pudge’s and were toasted with drinks bought for them, rather than the other way around. Musician Greg Allman has friends in Hudson and that’s exactly what happened on a Saturday night visit (insert joke about his past financial troubles). Someone who knows I am a reporter looked me up and said I might want to get my butt down to Pudge’s and cover this great big breaking story, the likes of which Hudson has seldom seen. At an earlier time, another musician stopped in, yet again at Pudge’s, this time to get offsale liquor just under the gun after performing at an X-Fest in Somerset. Word has it that David Pirner of Soul Asylum was really stringy with the tip, if there was any tip at all. Word also has it that Pirner has been back since then, as he frequents the St. Croix River on a boat, and while here pulls into Dibbo’s and listens to bands, not plays.
— There were plenty of people who you normally don’t see, out and about and celebrating, the other weekend after the Hudson Raiders won yet another playoff football game. That reminded me of another night a few weeks back at Dick’s, this one on a weekday and much slower, where there were five coaches wearing Stillwater Ponies jackets sitting around a table drowning there sorrows, presumably after a loss to the locals. One of them characterized the lament for all of them: “Conference champions. It’s a b—-.”