We need a state constitutional amendment to solidify this excellent proposal!

On the other hand, perhaps we should consider Trout Fishing in America by Richard Brautigan as an alternative.

Before they pass this bill, they should first get written permission from the author.

After the resounding NAY to helping the sickly & poor, the Republicans need to do something like this to ASSert their Christianity.

Amend the bill to include if a legislator violates one of the Ten Commandments they will be flogged in public on first offense and stoned on the second offense.

The Bible shouldn't qualify as the official book, mainly because it is a bunch of books. To solve this obvious problem I suggest Representative Sexton go with just one book. I suggest the illustrated Genesis by R. Crumb. I mean it has pictures and everything.

The Poisonwood Bible for state book.

Confederacy of Dunces sounds about right for these times.

“A firm rule must be imposed upon our nation before it destroys itself. The United States needs some theology and geometry, some taste and decency. I suspect that we are teetering on the edge of the abyss.”

would seem more appropriate for this state.

A friend of mine is promoting A Death in the Family by James Agee as the official state book. I think it's a very reasonable choice.

How about "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Conner?

Because the O'Connor story isn't based in Tennessee, nor is it written by a Tennessee author.

A Good Man is Hard to find opens with both description and comparison contrast of Tennessee. I would have expected someone who claims to be as incredibly brilliant as yourself to know this and argue the points on its merits, that is to say whether or not an idiotic conclusion could be drawn (That's what happens when you take a vacation to Florida instead of Tennessee) that made as little sense as trying to make the bible the state book.

If you're going to look down from your high horse and correct me, at least know your subject matter. F for Freshman English on you.

First, I don't claim to be brilliant. I don't know where you got that. Second, it's been at least 20 years since I've read most O'Connor, so if I forgot the beginning of one short story, I guess I can be forgiven. If not, then OK. Third, if it's just the beginning that's set in Tennessee, I don't think it would qualify.

Oh, good grief. Get a grip on the egos, people. This is a much bigger story than your favorite book or least favorite poster.

Sexton was put into office to punish the incumbent, a reasonable Republican, for voting against a voucher bill.
Period.
That's what this is about. The Kochsuckers will elect anybody who supports their pet issues, and whatever else they do is beside the point. Here's a story I did right after the election:
……………………………………...

On election night in Grainger County, supporters of longtime state Rep. Dennis “Coach” Roach got together to await the 35th House District race Republican Primary returns to come in.
Their candidate fought hard to overcome a tsunami of negative advertising financed by as much as a half-million dollars from out-of-state special interest groups blasting Roach for “ghost-voting” (the common and fairly innocuous practice of seat-mates pushing the voting button for neighbors who have stepped out to use the restroom or take a smoke). The ads painted it as dangerous and lazy, but Roach’s supporters were cautiously optimistic that Roach, a popular teacher and basketball coach who had served since 1994, would survive.
“We thought Jerry was going to get his showing, but it turned out we got our showing,” said Grainger County Commissioner James Acuff.
When the final tally was in, Roach lost by nearly 1,000 votes to opponent Jerry Sexton, a preacher turned furniture manufacturer whose Facebook page describes him as “More pro-life than your pastor, more for the Second Amendment than Davy Crockett, and more for traditional marriage than Adam and Eve.”
The real issue that got the attention of 501© (4) groups like the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity and the Tennessee Federation for Children wasn’t ghost voting at all.
“It all came down to it all came down to my vote on the vouchers,” said Roach, whose district includes Grainger and parts of Union and Claiborrne counties.
Roach was particularly disappointed in his Union County showing, where he lost 670-320.
“We thought we might do a little better than that after saving them $497,000 (by pushing to keep the k12Inc Virtual Academy open against the wishes of Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman). We helped (Union County) save that revenue and they ran a thank-you in the News Sentinel. But I guess what we did didn’t impress them enough to overcome those ads. They were good ads, but just about 99 percent false.”

Roach cast the fateful vote on March 5 in the House Finance Ways & Means Subcommittee (aka “the Black Hole”) opposing a school voucher bill that would have directed taxpayer money to private schools.
“I could have very easily voted for them, and saved myself this trouble, but I’ve been in education all my life, and it’s not a real good time to be taking money out of public education,” Roach said. “I’ve run 10 times before, but spent more money in this race than in all my other contests combined.
“We raised about $57,000, and we spent it. The TEA did a mailer or two that didn’t cost me, spent about $7,500 or so, but you compare that to $400,000-something… And they did radio, too. We came back and did what we could, but you spend what you got and no more.”
Final tallies won’t be disclosed until October.
Several of Roach’s colleagues chipped in campaign contributions in an attempt to fend off the onslaught, including Rep. Ryan Haynes, who says he’d like to dam the flow of outside money.
“Coach is exactly right. The voucher bill is what got him, and there’s way too much money in politics. I’ve never had a constituent come up to me and tell me they wish they could get more money in my hand. The public is right to be concerned about this, and I think it’s incumbent on voters to start saying, ‘Hey, where’s this coming from?’ ”