"That wasn't my point. My point was that now, and forevermore, every expansion of government, every spending bill, every stupid rule that screws up our lives - will be "justified" because we're "at war with the terrorists and if you don't agree/do/pay/submit, the terrorists win."
That seems to be a real danger, but it looks like a linear projection to me.
Another possibility is that we will win both the war on terror and the left's war on America.
Either we strangle that inclination, or the United States stops - one or the other will happen. The Republican Party of Goldwater and to some extent Reagan is long dead and gone; don't be fooled by the name used by the new owners.