Western intellectuals never had to pay a price for being so wrong. The Right never spiked the football, mostly due to ... wait for it ... take a guess ... could it be ... the GOPe. Every leftist from Noam Chomsky to Oliver Stone to the silly little twit who taught me Poly-Sci 101 should have been ridiculed for years. Liberal Democrats were horribly wrong on all of it, but never had to suffer for it. They can proceed in their stupidity 100% free of any consequences.
At least until the show trials. Once the Left is Ascendant and Supreme they will start eating their own in earnest. Everybody then becomes Trotsky and Budenny.