Orly?
Yep.
Could you link me to the definition of "properly formed bitcoin transaction" you're using? Because it seems you're suggesting that "a properly formed bitcoin transaction" is a transaction that goes through, which isn't much of a definition, being both circular and unenlightening 
Nah.
When I say a "properly formed bitcoin transaction" I generally mean the following:
- Transaction includes a reasonable fee for it's size
- Transaction doesn't spend any unconfirmed outputs
- Sequence numbers of all inputs equal to UINT_MAX
- No competing transactions seen on the network spending any of the same inputs
- Transaction broadcast to multiple nodes
...also getting into some murky shit, since you're telling me that one of the most popular bitcoin wallets is creating ill-formed transactions
Not sure exactly which wallet you're talking about, but yes there are several "popular" wallets that have transactions which create "bad" transactions, or do a bad job of protecting their users. Popularity is a very poor measure of quality.
Any normal app checks for shit input from a user; if I type "my dog has flees" into "withdraw amount," it will ask me to try again, a value was expected. That's basic input validation.
Now imagine going to your ATM, slipping it your card, and, after keying in some numbers, seeing "Lulz, UR monyz GONE, ill-formed transaction xD looool!!" Not only did you not get any money from your ATM, but the money you expected to get is, basically, GONE. You might get it back some day, and then again, you might not.
Now imagine going to your ATM, slipping it your card, and, after keying in some numbers, seeing "Lulz, UR monyz GONE, ill-formed transaction xD looool!!" Not only did you not get any money from your ATM, but the money you expected to get is, basically, GONE. You might get it back some day, and then again, you might not.
Businesses that provide you with that ATM interface are motivated by competition and desire to profit to provide a quality product. If some hobbyist created an ATM that did dumb crap like that, would you use it? No? What about if that ATM was popular, then would you use it? There were unfortunately wallets created early on by hobbyists without a significant motivation to create anything better than they needed for their own personal purposes. Those wallets became popular before better wallets came along. Eventually the market will sort out and the best designs will win, but until then popularity is a poor measure of quality.
What am I looking at?
A transaction that spends unconfirmed bitcoins. I'm pretty sure I already stated that.
And why is it still unconfirmed, an hour later?
Lack of transaction fee?