Spiraling comment threads create an opportunity for an expansive discourse with multiple potential paths. Given that a rule violation wasn't cited as well as the fact that the whole chain has been flagged and dead'd, i have to wonder why someone of your renown saw fit to contribute to what you described as a tangential discussion. The political downvoting was enough to earmark the discussion as wrongthink. Please don't get me banned for questioning your motives; it is a dead chain anyways.