The pro-Obamacare Democrats are desperate.

You can tell that liberal Democrats are desperately afraid of losing a political battle when the party line starts shifting dramatically. For example, last week's conventional wisdom was that this year's tea parties were "astroturf" bought by special interests. Last week's opinion of the blog "Cosmic Variance" is a typical example:

The possibility of a “single-payer” healthcare program has fallen off the table. I’m not sure exactly how or when this option became untenable, but it shows how quickly the efforts of pharmaceutical and insurance companies can reframe a discussion. After all, there are billions upon billions of dollars at stake, which is precisely why it is such a profound issue for our long-term fiscal health. It is not at all surprising that these companies are spending millions to defeat meaningful reform. The essential goal of this reform, after all, is to reduce the amount of money our nation spends on health care (while improving overall care). Which is not at all in the interest of these companies. What is astounding is that they are actually succeeding in derailing the discussion into lunacy.

This week, the party line on the tea parties flipped 180 degrees opposite to what it had been. The tea parties are no longer hired mercenaries who were bought and paid for by special interests. They are now spontaneous demonstrations of the racially aggrieved population-at-large:

The national debate on health care reform has turned ugly, with some leveling charges of racism against opponents.

A Congressional Black Caucus member said Tuesday fears the revival of America's worst days of race hatred.

"I guess we'll probably have folks putting on white hoods and white uniforms again and riding through the countryside, intimidating people," Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., said when asked whether Rep. Joe Wilson's shout to President Obama that "You lie," reflected the sentiment of racists.

"And you know that's the logical conclusion if this kind of attitude is not rebuked," Johnson said.

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd also found Wilson's heckling of Obama to be racially motivated, writing that Wilson really meant, "You lie, boy."

On Tuesday evening, former President Jimmy Carter said in an interview with NBC that "an overwhelming portion" of those who demonstrate against Obama are doing so because the president is a black man.