Thanks! That's a fine executive summary. The longer version is that original humor is appreciated, particularly if insightful and non-obvious, but regurgitated memes are not welcome here. If you are rushing to make the obvious joke before everyone else does, please don't.
Seriously. I did not know that the use of a meme is violates site ethics guidelines. I checked the comment guidelines (http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html) I didn't see any guideline referring to the use of memes. If using a meme is such an egregious offense as this comment thread suggests, maybe this violation should be mentioned in the guidelines.
Generally the popularity of a comment is a good enough indicator of how well a comment is received. If I got 100 upvotes on that comment I may get the impression that people like that. Considering I have < 0 on the comment, I can take the hint. I don't need the proper patrol reprimanding me about a non-stipulated rule.