We have just elected one last weekend. Remember, representative democracy requires even illiterate people to have a representative

I was not sure of the exact name of the grammatical error you point out. Wikipedia comes to the rescue: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dangling_modifier
I find this a) infuriating and b) extremely common. I am sure I have seen it recently in an American Mathematical Society publication. If even professional logical thinkers can’t express themselves logically, the future looks grim. I may be overstating the case but I strongly feel that sloppy language reflects sloppy thought. Now, can I get a grant to test that hypothesis?