I wouldn't say it's theft but I'd argue they don't deserve as much rewards as they get if they make it all about themselves.
They're using their vp to stabilise hbd, they could curate posts instead but choose that this is more important atm with some of their stake.
Does the effort really deserve $250 per click? Yup, just 10 simple clicks earns $2500
curation rewards don't have the same caliber of effort required as author rewards, they could also simply trail another voter for instance and end result is the same.
I understand what you mean, but... I'll just leave it there, because it's one of those many subjective perspective things