I think the assumption is that Chomsky is villifying Einstein for not doing enough, when in fact he's villifying a culture (both in and out of academia) that punishes those who go too far afield with radical ideas.
Hence, why this seems hypocritical: Chomsky made his trade-off, and continues to enjoy a comfortable professor's life. I think it's fair to say that Chomsky has done far more political activism in his life than Einstein, but far less than Russell.
Einstein isn't admired because he chose a life of research... he's admired because of his research. Russel is also incredibly admired, then and now.