yekke2:
I agree with your complaint. It’s especially annoying when the side point is banal and the main topic isn’t. It can throw a good discussion off course.
But it is worth remembering that it’s not always for the worst. The Harry Potter thread, in my opinion the best in the CR, is really about similarities between yiddishkeit and HP. And then someone mentioned time travel and it all went a bit crazy, and as it veered off track it became something wonderful. But I still agree with your original point.