OK, it's me again. (I told you I love this topic.)

In one of the deleted scenes (I believe) in GF1, when Vito and his sons are going to visit Genco, Vito tells Michael that he never comes to him as a son should, and that he eventually wants to have a talk with him.

But why didn't Vito come to Fredo as a father should? He has a heart-to-heart talk with Michael after Sonny's death when Michael returns from Sicily. Why didn't he sit down with Fredo and have a heart-to-heart talk with him explaining why he thought it best that the torch be passed to Michael? Did Vito think that Fredo was so simple that he wouldn't mind being stepped over as rightful heir? Why didn't Vito, Michael (and Tom, for that matter) tell Fredo how valuable his training in the casino business was to them, now that they were going to make serious moves into that aspect of the business?

And, to make things worse for Fredo, we come to the episode Dona mentions. What does Michael do but go to Las Vegas -- Fredo's training ground, Fredo's niche -- and propose to buy out Moe Green and move all the family's interests to Nevada WITHOUT letting Fredo know any of this beforehand. In fact, Fredo happens to overhear it while Michael is mentioning it to Johnny Fontane! It appears that Fredo doesn't even know that Vito is semi-retired and that Michael is now the acting CEO. And all this sets Fredo up to be scolded by Michael (and he doesn't do it privately, but in front of everyone who's there -- Tom, Al Neri, and Johnny Fontane).

I know all this had to be done for dramatic reasons: to make the narrative interesting and to show the changes in Michael's character; and it certainly sets up the tragic arc of GF2. But just for discussion reasons, don't you think Vito and Michael -- who clearly love Fredo -- were very unthinking in their treatment and put mafia interests above basic human courtesy?