On Wednesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom assured us that the arrest of Jonathan Rinderknecht, the alleged arsonist who set the most destructive wildfire in Los Angeles history, brought “closure” to the “thousands of Californians whose lives were upended.”

He couldn’t be more wrong.

Rinderknecht’s arrest isn’t an end to the January tragedy that killed 12 of my neighbors and wiped out 7,000 Pacific Palisades homes and businesses.

It is just the beginning of a reckoning for California — and for the nation.

Why? Because as the investigation and prosecution unfolds, the tentacles of the case will force us to face up to the mess we’ve gotten ourselves into on multiple fronts.

The devastating Palisades Fire, which blazed out of control for nearly three weeks, was a damning indictment of

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