I flagged your comment to make a point.
Sure you can use flagging as a tool to control reward distribution. It's an idea that's sound in theory, and I obviously believe in it hence my investment, but it needs a lot of work.
When too much power is in the hands of too few, we all know what happens. And what happened in this case went way beyond "expressing your opinion" when @Berniesanders started to have his followers to down vote not only @Haejin but also anyone who might disagree with him enmasse. That's just abuse of power, plain and simple.