Rep. Erica Thomas (shown) claimed that the man in the grocery store gave new meaning to the term "discriminating shopper.” He told her, an American-born-and-bred black woman, "Go back to where you came from!” after a checkout-aisle confrontation, she stated in a tearful video. The problem?

It turns out that it was all basically a hoax.

The sparks flew when the accused man, Eric Sparkes, came forward and credibly claimed that Georgia state representative Thomas (D-District 39) fabricated the "go back” story for political gain. It didn’t help the legislator’s cause that Sparkes is Hispanic and an ardent, Trump-deriding Democrat with the social-media posts to prove it. She subsequently backtracked on her initial accusation.

Yet while much has already been reported about this story, that a certain aspect of it is underemphasized speaks volumes about our time’s askew, perverse priorities. The focus has been on what Sparkes did or didn’t say, with the idea that this determines his "guilt or innocence.” But what’s more significant? What the man said?

Or that a lawmaker believes he should be arrested for saying it?

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