It is, as others have said, a matter of style. The computer programmer in you is going nuts over something that doesn’t have a formal logic to it, in the way that most computer languages do. Writing is so much more complex than any computer language could ever be (Goedel was right!), and to try to understand it from a purely logical viewpoint is impossible.
Besides, it’s not right in the sense that a program is “right” if it compiles. It’s just a matter of style. Editors will tell you it’s right, but they’re not exactly right themselves.
I’m a technical writer, and I loathe editors who are more concerned about style than they are about meaning.
However, I do pit you for posting YAGQ (Yet Another Grammar Question) to SDMB, thus letting loose the yammerings of the writers, editors, and other lovers of ephemeris upon us. Good heavens, they’re worse than economists!