It would solve a few problems. The main thing to consider for usable UI's is importance of info, and arrange it in order of importance from left to right.
It would seem swapping the timestamp and # of responses would be a better order and use of space. The responses link is redundant and could just be a # display instead of a link. The timestamp could also be right-aligned to fix alignment problems you pointed out in the main post. Like this
The "Responses" link is actually not redundant. In the case of direct external links, the responses link is unfortunately the only way to get into the post in order to see the URL before following it. Direct links pose a risk to users as I've written about in another post (link below).
https://steemit.com/steemit-issues/@tombstone/direct-external-links-are-too-risky-please-disable-them
Oh yeah, you are correct.
I agree with your other post too. Titles should not link directly out, but have a link icon or something after the title that does.