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Testifying close to home
There is no shortage of celebrities who have delivered powerful testimony before Congress over the years.
We've seen Mister Rogers testify about children's television programming, U2's Bono about the horrors of the global refugee crisis and comedian Jon Stewart tearfully recounting the pain of police and firefighters battling illness after responding to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Now, add genre-bending country music artist Jelly Roll to that list with maybe one of the most visceral pieces of testimony I have ever heard delivered. The Grammy-nominated artist whose birth name is Jason DeFord, told members of Congress today that as a former drug dealer himself he was once part of the problem.
"I brought my community down. I hurt people," the 39-year-old said. "I was an uneducated man in the kitchen playing chemist with drugs I knew nothing about, just like these drug dealers are doing right now when they are mixing every drug on the market with fentanyl and they are killing the people we love."
He specifically was advocating for legislation that doesn't only go after stopping the supply of fentanyl coming into the U.S., but also dealing more seriously with how to address the demand that is leading to so many young people losing their lives. To drive that point home, he talked about the funerals he's attended and the caskets of loved ones he's carried as a pallbearer.
If you are unfamiliar with Jelly Roll, check out this song, Son of a Sinner, to get a flavor for what he's about. You'll hear why Willie Nelson has started bringing him out on tour with him and why he's in my Outlaw Country mix on Spotify.
Who's up, who's down
Up: Jelly Roll.
With tattoos all over his face and felonies that restrict his ability to vote, Jelly Roll is quite a bit far from what you would expect at a hearing in the U.S. Senate. Yet, the Senate Banking Committee not only invited him to speak but heard a perspective they aren't likely to get from many others, while also publicizing the fight over fentanyl to a whole new audience that doesn't even read the Texas Take!
Down: Greg Abbott.
I get he was probably trying to be funny. But when the governor told conservative radio host Dana Loesch last week about all he was doing to stop border crossings, he probably didn't need to add: "The only thing we're not doing is we're not shooting people who cross the border because of course the Biden administration would charge us with murder." Given it was just a few months ago, Ron DeSantis was in Texas vowing to shoot people from across the border if he thought they were suspected drug dealers, it took no time for Democrats to cast it as another attempt to dehumanize people seeking asylum in the U.S.
What do you think? Hit reply and let me know.
What else is going on in Texas
 Photo by: Sam Owens, Staff Photographer / San Antonio Express-News | | A handful of cities and counties in West Texas have passed ordinances that prohibit anyone from knowingly transporting another person for an abortion. | |
 Photo by: Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News | | "This is not something that we wanted," Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas said. The city was the center of the governor's migrant crackdown last summer. | |
 Photo by: Jason Fochtman/Staff Photographer | | The Texas Nationalist Movement had accused the state GOP of trying to "suppress the voices of Republican voters" when it refused to add the referendum to this year's primary ballot. | |
 Photo by: Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News | | U.S. Rep. Chip Roy and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz led the social media pack and most frequently posted their concerns about President Joe Biden's immigration and border security policies. | |
 Photo by: Chris O'Meara, AP | | Higher energy and housing prices boosted overall U.S. inflation in December, a sign that the Federal Reserve's drive to slow inflation to its 2% target will likely remain a bumpy one. | |
 Photo by: Billy Calzada/Staff Photographer | | Mayor Ron Nirenberg also stripped the Northeast Side councilman of his committee assignments "until further notice or until more details of the incident are known." | |
Pick of the day
Photo by: Brett Coomer
The Houston Chronicle is launching a weekly series of live virtual events that peel back the curtains on our newsroom. Readers are invited to join us for VIP interviews, fascinating Q&As and on-the-record discussions on topical issues. Our inaugural live event is with our new editor-in-chief, Kelly Ann Scott, at noon Friday, January 12. Register for the free virtual event here.
What else I'm reading
Patrick Svitek at the Texas Tribune got the answer to the question I didn't get to ask U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz last week in Round Rock. Cruz has not endorsed former President Donald Trump for president so far. Cruz told Svitek that's because he has "an immense amount of respect for the Iowa caucuses and their procedures." He said he will eventually offer his "full support" to whoever wins the nomination.
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