Ted Cruz's speech exposes widening fault lines within the Republican party.
The Texas Republican Ted Cruz may have racked up one of the longest performances in the US Senate, but his 21-hour speech exposed as much about the fault lines in the Republican party as it achieved its stated objective of stirring up opposition to Barack Obama's signature health reforms. Within minutes of sitting down in the Senate to applause from conservative hardliners, Cruz received a public lecture from his fellow Republican, former presidential candidate John McCain, on the need to respect legislation that has been passed in a democratic manner. "I won't take too much time – the floor here has been well used over the last day or so," quipped McCainbefore the GOP grandee reminded the first-term senator of the struggle put up by Republicans to block the passage of Obama's healthcare reform in 2009. "We fought as hard as we could, in a fair and honest manner, and we lost. And we lost, one of the reasons is because we were in the minority. And, in demo...