Is your writing mentally retarded?

Recently I've been editing some very bad writing. I'm patient, and caring, and meticulous; and I understand that the author has worked very hard, but at the same time I can't help comparing the writing to a historical trend of failing education and suffered grammar skills.

The vast majority of modern English speakers have very poor writing skills; and the vast majority of English speakers writing books also have very poor writing skills! Maybe this is because the well-educated, linguistically gifted among us have stable jobs and families and don't hunger so desperately for that American dream of writing a book and making a fortune in supplemental income. Maybe the recession is bringing out all the crazies from under the woodwork; who have the brilliant and inspired goal of educating mankind in the things that they themselves have come to realize like:
1) With hard work and passion, you can do anything.
2)....
That seems to be about all they've come up with so far.

In one book I'm editing, the author is using Abraham Lincoln as an example for his perseverance. During Abe's time (and about a century before and after his death) people who wrote for publication or wrote things that other people would read were nearly universally excellent writers and speakers. I mean, freaking fantastic. AWESOME.

If they got their hands on the book I'm editing now, they would have thought it was the product of a deranged man, an unlearned child, or an imbecile. A large part of the problem is that authors are recycling without reading anything for themselves (I'm guessing this author, while referring to the Gettysburg address, has never actually read it.) Although self-help gurus will use examples of superior men, they don't read the writings of these great men which they are recommending.

Is there a cure for mentally retarded writing?
Sadly no: for one thing, trying to write a book at all shows gargantuan effort and should be praised, regardless of the outcome (although I feel like they are in for a rude awakening when they try to publish). For another, the people with poor writing skills have (as demonstrated in their writing) poor logic skills and a lack of common sense. yes they can improve, they can learn, they can take classes... and they may get good enough to write a 'chicken soup for the soul' or a 'who moved my cheese?'.

If you are a struggling author who's not getting the feedback you feel you deserve - try this: go to the library and check out a couple "Norton Anthologies of Literature". Get the American and British anthology; that's about 300 years of the best English writing known to man. Read it, study it, practice copying it. (Read for 10 minutes, then write something similar trying to use the same style. There is simply no skipping history if you want to improve your writing, and I guarantee this will produce results for you.