Ted Bilkey (is that his real name?!) DPW COO is not doing well on CNN

[Atman]

Even Softpitch Blitzer is grilling him about the fact that Bilkey (please note the name; I love it!) and the board will answer to the Emir of the UAE. "Yah but...uh, not really...it's just an investment...uh..." Even Wolfie doesn't buy it. These guys are just greedy mother fuckers, that's all. It's the deal, that's all it's about to them, who can make the biggest deal. $8 billion is huge, and Bilkey and his cohorts on this side of the pond will all make millions off the deal, personally, you can betcha. They don't give a rat's ass about port security. They want to land the big one.

[bigtree]

1. He's tanking . . .

seems sleepy . . . I don't think he's here to do the public PR. He's for the Congress.

[liveoaktx]

2. Or maybe he's in the last stages of Alzheimer's.

[Bobbie47]

3. we will do anything necessary

to get this to pass?

[spuddonna]

4. No way... Bilkey?! LMAO!!

I almost did a spittake...

This is so incredibly insane. There is no way they can spin this. I just can't see how it is possible. The criminals in this admin. thought that this deal would slide through unnoticed. They were counting on the American public NOT knowing about this, like so many other schemes they've pulled off. But this time, they got caught...

Will it matter though? I'm so damn jaded. So many scandals, so many lies...

[warrens]

5. All they gotta do is wait a year or so

Then one by one, fire the oversight types and replace them with people with SLIGHTLY different responsibilities. After a few, you've got a nice big hole in oversight and...boom. Then you can blame it on the Americans you hired to keep watch.

[merbex]

6. He just bragged that his mother sat on the White House steps with

President Harding

Teapot Dome anyone??

My God corruption is BRED into them and goes through generations

[malaise]

13. Did he say Harding or Carter?

Not sure but I thought I heard Carter and did wonder!

[merbex]

14. Harding n/t

[Cooley Hurd]

7. He ended the interview by saying he's a US Senator's son...

...but Wikipedia and The Political Graveyard sites have NO listing on anyone named "Bilkey.":shrug:

[malaise]

9. Yep I started digging as well

and found nothing.

[merbex]

12. He certainly seemed confused at times - do you think he meant his

grandfather?

He mentioned his mother and President Harding also

[Cooley Hurd]

16. I'm not finding anything on ANY "Bilkey" in the US Senate...

:shrug:

[malaise]

8. He said his father was a Senator

and he has a photo of his mom sitting on the White House steps with Harding.

Corrected.

[Cooley Hurd]

11. No, he said President Harding, not Carter...

She must be REALLY old!

[malaise]

15. Thanks I got it wrong n/t

[High Plains]

10. I think the guy is just not an experienced PR flack.

He'd never make it as a radio talk show host, but that has little to do with his ability to run a port company.

"They don't give a rat's ass about port security." Do you have any evidence to back that up?

[Atman]

17. Bush and John Snow are involved.

That's all the evidence I need thusfar. I don't agree with McCain or Warner at all, I don't think the president has any right to expect the benefit of the doubt any longer about anything. To the contrary. He's demonstrated his contempt for the Congress and the will of the American people over and over again, and therefore I am naturally suspicious that this Dubai deal is not going to turn out to be the very first thing he's done purely for the good of the country.

Granted, he has a vested interest in port security, especially at the outset. But as OP pointed out, within a year DPW is laying off security personnel because money is tight, or there's another higher-level merger or something. There is always something. I see nothing wrong with being cautious when we have the opportunity, instead of merely waving signs after the deal is already done.

[tjdee]

18. Another rich kid. My daddy was a senator, my mommy knew the President.

:eyes:

Oh please don't be angry, let us make our gazillions, let us, oh please let us!

:eyes:

[spanone]

19. Ominous words 'we will do whatever it takes to make sure the deal goes thr

ough'. These are people with BILLIONS of dollars.