Steve Wynn is pretty good at building casinos. The Golden Nugget, which he used to own, is still the nicest place downtown. The Mirage totally revolutionized Las Vegas, ushering in the megaresort era. And The Bellagio set new standards for luxury. His latest place, the Wynn Las Vegas, is very nice, too.

But when it comes to holding forth on geopolitical issues, well, not so much. Check out this story from the Associated Press for proof:

"That imbecile Mao Zedong almost ruined that country [China]," Wynn said.

 

Later, Wynn clarified his remarks, saying "I said the Cultural Revolution almost ruined the country. It was imbecilic. I didn’t call him [Zedong] an imbecile, I said it was imbecilic."

"I said Deng Xiaoping was the father of modern China, and then I went into a long dissertation about how well I thought they managed their affairs."

See? Being super-rich means being able to totally manipulate reality! In fact, Wynn did call Mao Zedong an imbecile. But once confronted, he simply said he didn’t, and everything’s cool! Wow. Being rich must be so super-sweet!

For example, if we at Various Things & Stuff were rich, we might say this: "That ridiculous dumbass Steve Wynn totally had it right when he called Mao Zedong an imbecile!" And then later, if Wynn or his people were to call, we’d simply say this:

"Oh, we didn’t call Wynn a ridiculous dumbass. No, we said his backing off his original quote about Mao Zedong was ridiculous and dumbasstic."

Now, some of you may wonder if Wynn’s remarks might get back to Beijing, where authorities might make trouble for him in Macau, where Wynn has a casino, and is looking to build another. Fear not! Because Wynn went on to kiss a little sweet & sour Chinese ass, thusly:

• He said a visit to China by the exiled Dali Lama might cause some "unintended disorder." (And you know how the Chinese deal with disorder, don’t you? Here’s a hint: Rhymes with "tank"!)
  
• He said the greatest threat to global business is terrorism, as opposed to, in no particular order, global poverty, disease, political oppression (like they have in, say, China!) or war.
  
• He said that "Taiwan is like Maine, or Washington. It was theirs [China's] and it got taken away. It’s like Hawaii. And they want it back. And most of the people in Taiwan want to go back."
  
• Of course, many people in Taiwan don’t want to go back, just as many of the residents of Maine and Washington and probably Hawaii, too, wouldn’t mind splitting off from the United States until we elect a better president. But we’re sure Wynn’s hummer of a quote sure put a smile on the faces of officials in Beijing, whom he also praised for the country’s economic growth and efficient bureaucracy.

So, there you have it: Just when it looks like an American businessman is going to tell the truth about China, he goes all soft and cuddly. Sure, what Wynn said was not as bad as, say, Sheldon Adelson’s despicable remarks. But it sure wasn’t good, either.

Maybe he should stick to building casinos.