Yes if you write it like that, it removes one of my complaints, but it leaves the other. You now have inconsistency in the language because LINQ is basically being used as a new type of language added to an existing language. You are working with two languages at once. Why stop there? Why not add python to c#? And every other language. The super language that has everything from everywhere. It is a total mess.
LINQ solves a real business need -- how to access sets of data, regardless of the source, in a uniform teachable way. If you can teach people how to query data structures using a one syntax that is integrated into the language, then you don't have to teach them a different API for every different data source. By encouraging the few API designers to target a standard, the many API consumers can build more reliable code faster.
If you approach it as what it is, yes, a language-integrated query syntax, and avoid the fluent-chaining style most of the time, then you'll see an information-dense productivity booster instead of a "total mess".
The LINQ syntax fits on 1 sheet of paper:
http://www.albahari.com/nutshell/linqsyntax.aspx
Personally, I look at the two-tier language and library support as a case of "the easy things should be simple, and the hard things possible." That's just my own take, but I find that it guides thought process a little better. I look for a syntax solution first, then rewrite it using a chaining style if I need to (e.g. SelectMany), or possibly split into multiple queries. I don't think I've ever written one longer than 10 lines, properly formatted.
Now, as far as python and other languages are concerned, LINQ is less "python in C#" and more "PEP 202 in C#".
