Orange Jesus vs Orange Julius

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Former GOP Congresswoman Liz Cheney's new book, "Oath and Honor:  A Memoir and a Warning," made its official sales debut on-line and in bookstores yesterday, and according to the political chatter that preceded the opening day of sales to the general public, it has some mighty unkind things to say about former President Trump and his venomous band of enablers, sycophants, and traitors.

While I have not purchased nor read Ms. Cheney's book (and, at a pricey $30.99 for a hardback copy from Amazon, am not likely to do so), I still have enjoyed all of the free soundbites and morsels which are being slung to the public to increase sales.

One of the remarks that Cheney supposedly overheard in the GOP congressional cloakroom  on the morning of the insurrection she attributed to Congressman Mark Green of Tennessee.  Cheney recounted that there were "electoral vote objection sheets" for various states set up in a row in the cloakroom, and that congressmen were were being herded along those lists in order to sign them with their peers watching.  As he walked by automatically signing his name to the various state sheets, Cheney recalled that Congressman Green said, to no one in particular, "The things we do for the Orange Jesus."

(Congressman Green denies making that statement.)

That statement, whether it was uttered by the Tennessee congressman or not, put me in mind of another time, decades ago, when it was a very big deal in America to spend an afternoon or an evening roaming through an indoor shopping mall, and, at some point during the visit, standing in line to purchase a unique, non-alcoholic, blended drink called an "Orange Julius." And as I sat at the keyboard reminiscing about those wonderful orange drinks of yesteryear, the thought struck me that it had been a mighty long time since I had last tasted an Orange Julius.  Of course, it had also been a mighty long time since I had last stumbled into an indoor mall.

Some research was in order.

The drink apparently originated in an orange juice stand in Los Angeles in 1926 where it was concocted by a man named Julius Freed.  A couple of years later Freed's business partner came up with a way to make the drink "frothier," "creamier," and less acidic, and they were o the road to success.  The unique drink worked its way through the carnival and state fair circuits and eventually into its own small shops in America's malls.  In 1964 it was the official drink of the New York World's Fair.   Orange Julius (the company) was purchased by Dairy Queen in 1987 and the drink is reportedly still a major seller at DQ in the United States, Canada, and Singapore.

According to information available on the internet, the unique drink is a mixture of concentrated orange juice, ice, sweetener, milk, powdered egg whites, and vanilla flavoring.  Some noted variations include yogurt and ice cream.

I remember Orange Julius fondly and still occasionally experience a craving for one, but Hell will have frozen over permanently and Elon Musk will have given all of his money to charity before I ever crave a return of the Orange Jesus!

Can I have an "Amen!"?