Perhaps no single person ever did more to glorify California than Brian Wilson, who died Wednesday at age 82.  The California of Wilson and his Beach Boys was a land of eternal sunshine, surfing, prosperity, love, and good times that would endure forever.  His music helped California become a magnet for millions of people who moved west to this Earthly Paradise.

And perhaps no single person has ever mangled that image more than Governor Gavin Newsom, who delivered an apocalyptic speech the night before Brian Wilson’s death.  Newsom has helped turn Eden into a place now known for homeless encampments, outdoor drug markets, and looting.

How dramatically has California been transformed?  Consider that the Beach Boys’ great song ‘Good Vibrations’ was released in the fall of 1966.  One month later, Ronald Reagan was elected governor in a landslide.  At the same time, both senators from the Golden State were moderate Republicans.

Now the state’s boss is the snake oil salesman, while Los Angeles is run by hapless former Castro-worshipping Karen Bass.  The senators are far-left Democrats, Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla.  To a man and woman, all of them excuse the anti-ICE protests, blame Donald Trump for the chaos, and ignore the many ills infecting their state.

How did this happen?  The great writer Ernest Hemingway famously described how one of his characters went bankrupt: ‘Gradually, then suddenly.’  The same trajectory applies to California’s descent into moral bankruptcy.  The state went from moderate Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger to loony Newsom faster than the Beach Boys’ ‘Little Deuce Coupe’ on the 101.

Brian Wilson apparently never gave up on California.  Describing one of his later albums in 2008, he said this:  ‘We tried to capture the vibe of Southern California and how beautiful it is to be here.’  But now, not many years later, anarchy threatens the state and city to which he dedicated those many love songs.

What would it take for California to return to sanity, to again be the Promised Land for Americans and people around the world?  To use a term familiar to Californians, it would require no less than a tectonic shift in political leadership.  Can that happen?

God Only Knows.