I do prefer it this way for the same reason. I'm here to discuss what the poster is posting about, which might be the article or meme, or might not be. It's also why I'd prefer posters of links leave something of their own as well, even if it's just a brief summary or thought. A link with no text isn't really that interesting.

And on the note of clicking links, we need to have the option of a link opening up a new tab/window. That way one can go read the article and the comments are still loaded in the other tab to return to without reloading.