> Boots and Coots (I don't know why that's a parodically American name, or
> what he means by that)
It's him being a Brit, thinking he's still writing for other Brits, about what a laugh it is to be such an insider.
BTW, you probably know this, but Kellogg Brown & Root was literally created through contracts like this back in the 30s. LBJ was known as the candidate from Brown & Root. And they in turn gave him unlimited piles of money when he needed it most. I think it's fair to say that without this relationship he would never have become a Congressman, never mind a Senator or a President. Robert Caro tells the story in great detail in his LBJ biography. But there's also a decent online story of B&R's origins at the Texas Observer:
http://www.texasobserver.org/showArticle.asp?ArticleID=731
When it comes to crony capitalism, West Texas had it perfected when East Asia was still in colonial pants. The latest bunch is just carrying on the tradition.
Michael