The use of "although" actually deemed the balance of the sentence unnecessary. "...
And another thing ... I have also realized that many of these letters make heavy use of the word "afraid." Why, I submit, would an agent be "afraid" that she can't offer representation? ...
This entire post cracked me up. So funny. I think agents sould just send us rejections that have one of three words: "Although," "however," or "afraid." Hah.
On a funny form-reject note, I got one today wherein the "Dear Name" part was a different font and color from the rest of the pasted form letter. This made me laugh because it's a clear indication of form rejection where only the salutation has been changed. It's basically what my worst fear is about my own submissions, that the custom parts are somehow going to be obvious (even though I reformat the font every time).
Anyway, it's the kind of thing that makes us writers look bad, but it's OK for the agents' rejections. Another "hah."