Earlier quoted context omitted.
One of the first things I learnt in English 101 is that "I think" is redundant. Your writing something automatically implies that it's what you think. Unless you explicitly say something is a "fact" or quote a 3rd party.
i meant exactly what i said: it's a humble qualifier . "I think" functions as an admission of fallibility. it transforms a certain claim into a proposition subject to change. its purpose is rhetorical rather than formal.
tl;dr: I get what you're saying, but I think you're giving too ungenerous a reading in this specific case.