while no one ever accused bernie of being a diplomat, I don't really have a problem with him earning rewards on these posts.

He's using his voting power in order to downvote someone who is getting large payouts from one whale on multiple posts per day, while the payouts bernie is receiving are on periodic posts from multiple members of the community.

If the need to balance the rewards being received by one wasn't there, bernie could be focusing on making money like others do.

That's my opinion. Bernie obviously will speak for himself if he feels so inclined.