Sep 13th, 2008 | WASILLA, Russia

The McCain campaign vigorously denounced a comment from an apparent Obama supporter who claimed that the senator exhibited bizarre behavior when he was in Hanoi as a Prisoner of War (POW) and frequently kept his personal items inside his rectum even AFTER prison guards had stopped searching prisoner cells.

"That Obama would allow a supporter to make such a scurrilous and outrageous charge against a genuine war hero is despicable. It also shows the lengths to which their campaign will go to get elected," said McCain campaign strategist Carl Grove.

 In the comment, a man self-identified as Thomas "Joules" Browning said on a CBS News message board, "I was a prisoner in the Hanoi Hilton along with John McCain and I can tell you that the man is not right. Even after the prisoner abuse had stopped and the guards had quit searching our cells, John still insisted on hiding all his personal items in his_rectum."'

NOTE: CBS has since removed the post in question.

Why the man used the underscore character between "his" and "rectum" is unclear. Flack News is currently looking in to Browning's assertion that he was a fellow POW with McCain.

In the comment, he went on to state, "Even then he seemed a little demented. If John`s senile_ass ever has his finger on the button, I`m moving to a very deep hole in the ground."

It is unclear if Browning was consciously aware of the pun in his last sentence.

When asked by reporters, Senator McCain chuckled a little and said, "Obama will say anything. And seriously...I have a hard enough time getting things OUT of my rectum, I don't think I'm capable of stuffing things IN there. But what's really tragic is that  I'm trying to get this country talking about swine cosmetics and the very serious threat of teaching kindergartners how to make love while he's snooping around my buttocks."

Vigorous follow-up questioning by reporters demanding to know the truth reminded McCain that the allegations were regarding a time in his life when he was much younger and questioned the logic of his current incontinence as it pertained to the time in question.

"Well...I just see no reason to comment about what I may or may not have stored inside my anal cavity. I don't think it's respectful of a serious fucking campaign," McCain barked back.

Obama made no mention of the recent uproar in his stump speech in Manchester, NH. But when questioned by reporters Obama said he condemned such talk.

"Look," he said, "we have a policy in this campaign. Asses are off limits. What John McCain stuffs up his rear end is his own affair and I would never question his actions. I think it's important to remember that when McCain was stuffing his personal affects into his butt, he was also heroically serving his country and deserves honor and respect for that."

But McCain campaign officials were not satisfied with Obama's remarks and demanded the senator apologize and denounce the comments of Browning.  David Puff, Obama's campaign manager, issued a statement a little later in the day.

"We certainly don't think it's appropriate to discuss John McCain's anus or its flexibility in housing his personal items during his time as a prisoner of war. On the other hand, we don't feel it's our role to demean the man who made the comments because he also served honorably, if a bit more comfortably."

Around the country, reactions were mixed by voters. Many thought it was a desperate attack by the Obama campaign as they've watched their candidate's standings in the polls diminish.

"I think Obama's desperately looking into every nook and cranny of John McCain to smear him. I just hope he washes his hands afterwards because that's a one-way ticket to hepatitus city, man," said Phillip Johnson of Macomb, GA.

Others questioned the motivations of Browning himself.

 "I think McCain must have kept a magazine that Browning wanted to read in there," said Sally Stevens of Athol, Idaho. "I imagine you get pretty bitter if someone is keeping an issue of Life magazine up their butt instead of sharing it. I think he's still bitter."