Some things involving words—intellectual thrillers and philosophical discussions, for example—benefit from complexity and moral engagement. Others—such as instruction manuals and free speech—are best kept simple. Let us consider a case in point involving bookselling and free speech: the current attempt by two Virginia legislators to have a pair of popular and highly regarded published works banned from sale at bookstores in their state.

Thursday morning I was five minutes out from the store when I got the following text from my fabulous assistant manager meg. “hey kenny. not sure what your morning looks like, but I wanted to let you know that it looks like someone shot one of the windows in the night.”