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Once the door is breached, the question becomes whether the belief was plausible in retrospect.

In retrospect, he regrets fighting to keep it alive.

The upheaval last week on the streets of Los Angeles — immigration raids sweeping up workers and leaving communities in terror, scattered protests that at times turned violent, the deployment of National Guard and Marine troops over the objections of local leaders — has been both stunning but also, in retrospect, predictable.

Indeed, not unlike that of Sly Stone, who also died this week, the Beach Boys’ peak hit-making era looks relatively brief in retrospect: After “Good Vibrations” in 1966, the band didn’t score another No. 1 single until 1988 with “Kokomo,” which Wilson wasn’t involved in.

Does that seem irresponsible in retrospect?