#mardel

Morgan Stephens at Daily Kos:

So much for separation of church and state. According to new reporting by The Oklahoman, state Superintendent Ryan Walters opened bids to purchase 55,000 Bibles for schools. Interestingly, a Bible endorsed by Donald Trump, known as “Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the U.S.A. Bible,” is one of only two that fits the bill—and the other one is endorsed by his son, Donald Jr. According to the request for proposals, the “Bibles must be the King James Version; must contain the Old and New Testaments; must include copies of the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights; and must be bound in leather or leather-like material.” That sure does seem specific.  “A salesperson at Mardel Christian & Education searched, and though they carry 2,900 Bibles, none fit the parameters,” according to The Oklahoman—except the one that the former president gets a cut from.

Bid documents indicate the supplier must provide a total of 55,000 Bibles to the Oklahoma State Board of Education and each school district. With the Trump-endorsed Bibles selling at a lavish $60 each, that would be a $3.3 million purchase. That’s quite an excessive order as, according to the report, there are only 43,000 classroom teachers in the state—and Walters has claimed he only “wants them in classes where the Bible might apply to academic standards, such as history or literature.”

Oklahoma Superintendent of Schools Ryan Walters (R) has opened bids for Bible purchases, with the following requirements: Must be KJV, contain both the Old and New Testaments, and include copies of the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, US Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, and bound in leather material.

The Trump Bibles fit those requirements.

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