(10-26-2012, 09:05 PM)kandrathe Wrote: Following the typical sentence structure rules for a Noun clause, you are the subject, therefore the assumption is that you remain the subject in the following clause. You might have clarified that, however awkwardly, by adding the word "they" as in "but THEY cannot say so".
In this case, the obvious parsing is: "(Sometimes I wonder if) People like Jeanine Gorafalo or Rachel Maddow are communists, but cannot say so because doing so would jeopardize their reputation and ultimately their careers."
The phrase "Sometimes I wonder if" sets off the imaginary or hypothetical situation to follow. Then, simply read the rest of the sentence as if it was declarative. This was not difficult for me to understand. The alternative is nonsensical - if FIT was wondering if they were communists, but worried that his saying as much would damage Jeanine Garofalo's and Rachel Maddow's careers, then his sentence would be self-contradicting, because that's what he's already doing.
As much as I think his speculation is a little bizarre, FIT's grammar was fine in this case. At the very least, I had no doubt as to what he was referring.
-Jester