The point I was trying to make, however, is that since the example code is JavaScript, the reality is that a statement like that will always result in sequential evaluation and binding and, therefore, a typographical treatment that suggests otherwise will provide misleading cues always.

The author's intent doesn't matter at that point. The typographical treatment has already reached the reader's eyeballs.

If the language were Haskell, however, the align-on-equals treatment would actually communicate the truth. For example, the following code means exactly what its visual presentation suggests it means (see [1]):

    let x      = y + 1
        y      = foo 0
        foo i  = max 0 (i - 1)
    in ...

So this treatment adds clarity, not takes it away.

[1] http://www.haskell.org/onlinereport/exps.html#sect3.12