My country uncles taught me to be skeptical. Oklahoma needs them back.

I was born in the 1960s in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Mine was the "city family" among our relatives: my aunts, uncles, and cousins lived in rural Northeast Oklahoma. We visited them on holidays or special occasions.

When I was a child, my country uncles entertained themselves by pranking me or convincing me that their tall tales were true. 

I have always been grateful for that.

They taught me to be skeptical. They taught me to see through BS. 

I guess country uncles like mine do not exist these days. That is my impression based on how many Oklahomans have voted for Donald Trump in three presidential elections.

It seems no one is providing them with bullshit-detecting lessons.

If my country uncles had heard some real estate mogul claim to know more about military strategy than all of his generals, they would have said, "Fat chance."

They would not have been suckered by the ridiculous racism of "They're eating the dogs! They're eating the cats!" 

If someone had promised them $5,000 if Republicans win the election -- after not delivering promised  "DOGE dividend" checks -- and not delivering on $200 discount cards for Medicare recipients -- and not delivering $2,000 "tariff dividend" checks -- my country uncles would have laughed in their face.

They would have understood what Trump meant when he said "we are getting rich" from high oil prices caused by his war in Iran -- that "we" is Trump and his CEO friends, not anyone else.

My uncles were all church-goers, and they would have understood who Trump was when he could not cite a single Bible verse. When Trump mentioned the New Testament book of "Two Corinthians," they would have understood he had never read the Bible, had never heard anyone in a Bible study say "Second Corinthians." 

They would not have been fooled by Trump's fact-free rally ramblings.  

They would have seen him for the con man he is. A flimflam man in their parlance.

Thanks to their training, in 2016 I was able to correctly peg Trump as a "godless huckster." He has done nothing to persuade me otherwise. 

Unfortunately, those uncles are gone, and now many Oklahomans have been trained into gullibility.