5 Dumbest Things on Wall Street: Jan. 29

Gates Goads Google

Is it just us, or will Bill Gates say just about anything to be chummy with the Chinese government?

When asked about Google's (Stock Quote: GOOG) battle with Beijing over censorship on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday, Microsoft's (Stock Quote: MSFT) chairman described Chinese restrictions as "very limited." Gates added that the Internet is subject to different kinds of censorship around the world, but has proved successful at promoting openness.

"The Chinese efforts to censor the Internet have been very limited. It's easy to go around it, and so I think keeping the Internet thriving there is very important," said Gates.

Oh sure, Bill! We totally agree that those Chinese Internet police are just a bunch of softies, veritable mall cops. Just ask the Chinese dissidents who were jailed for "inciting subversion" when Yahoo! named names a few years ago, and we are sure they will say the same thing -- under threat of severe torture, of course.

Look, we understand that Gates wants to open some doors and, more importantly, sell some Windows 7 in the world's biggest market. However, it's pretty discouraging when the world's richest man -- and so-called humanitarian -- sells out in order to do so.

Dumb-o-meter score: 75 -- Is Beijing Bill another Tokyo Rose? We sure hope not.