Right, I don't think you got my point. You don't always need the best option. CAs are far from perfect, but the threat model for a blog or a cat-sharing site is unlikely to include adversaries who are capable of compromising a CA (whether they're nation-state adversaries or not). SSL without HPKP is probably good enough for you in that case. Saying that the traditional CA system without HPKP is as bad as a plaintext protocol is silly.