>the main content of an HN thread is typically in the comments, not the link

this is what's killing HN (and everything else, tbh)

I disagree. The link is at best one data point, when the comments provide a whole body of content. Of course, the bulk of the comments should be productive, then, in order for the thread to be productive.

While HN is not great on politics, I'm not aware of any decently large (or small!) community that is.