Today, I came across a small community paper from a place called Hopkinsville, Kentucky. My impression of the town is not an encouraging one. (The bulk of the paper's editorial content focuses on local high school sports.) But the op-ed that brought this paper to my attention is incredibly, brillantly bad. The opening pair of sentences is possibly one of the worst things ever written:

"No matter what anyone says, fiction usually is stranger than truth. That's because people who create fiction can make it as strange as they choose. "