If you really believe that "the 101 will be another "Flying Pork Rind" for the US taxpayers to swallow" then you deserve pity, rather than abuse.
When the US does buy a European type (and it's rare) it's usually because the advantages are huge - as with the B-57 Canberra, and the AV-8 Harrier. The US101 enjoys significant advantages, too.
What you call the "101's terrible design" has so far led to its selection (over and above the cheaper competing S-92) in Denmark, Portugal, Canada (where it was the CAF's preferred choice for both requirements, though politics dictated that it could not be bought for both) and Japan, where selecting a non-US machine was extraordinary and unexpected.
Presumably all political.....?
Let's reiterate, shall we? The EH101 has eight military customers (RN, RAF, MMI, CAF, RDAF, Portugal, USMC and JMSDF) while the S-92 has one - in Canada, where a second Merlin order was politically impossible after the Chimo/Petrel affair, but where the Merlin was the CAF's preferred choice for the NSH requirement.
The Merlin has demonstrated better performance, availability and operational usefulness with the RAF in Iraq than the Chinook, and is rapidly becoming the SF platform of choice in theatre. It's quiet, agile, extremely fast, and has big enough doors. It remains to be seen whether externally mounted tanks offer much of an advantage in today's operational conditions. Chinook experience would suggest otherwise.
The aircraft was the preferred choice of the CSAR community, according to every HH-60 pilot I spoke to who flew it, and scored high enough marks to win VH-X, ON MERIT, too.
The S-92 is a fine machine, and it enjoys some compelling advantages. As a warmed over S-70 derivative, it was always going to be cheap and quick to develop, and very competitively priced, and there's no denying that a twin-engined configuration will offer payload/range advantages over a triple, and that direct operating costs will be impressive. Perhaps that's why the S-92 has been greeted so enthusiastically by the offshore industry.
That does not make it the best choice for a military operator, however.
And I have seen both aircraft being assembled, have flown in both, and have flown the Merlin, briefly, though as a fixed wing PPL I would not claim that the experience gave me any particular insight, beyond noting that the quietness and smooth ride of the Merlin in its Heliliner configuration (and I've flown in PP8 as well as in HC3s) is astonishing, and unlike any other helicopter in which I've travelled. That's quite a factor for VVIP flying.