ST. PAUL, Minn. — Alma farmer Stephen Anderson bore down for 50 minutes in the free-speech zone at the Republican National Convention.

He ranted Monday about bellicose politicians, outrageous trade agreements and greedy global corporations.


Three people were there to listen on a dead-end street with several layers of security fence shielding his words from GOP delegates. Disappointment flowed from his voice like the sweat that dripped from the brim of his cowboy hat. This is the same man who hauled a wheelbarrow and 25 pounds of horse dung to Minnesota in a car decorated with an "Impeach Bush" sticker to add flavor to his message that the United States was on the wrong path.

"Rural America is dead, but nobody has had the guts to write the obituary," Anderson said. "To top it off, they put me in a dark hole and called it a public space."