Jeesh, I can't keep up with you people. I write a reply to someone's post and by the time it gets on the board, the message I've replied to is already ten posts back.
This post I'm responding to is probably eleven posts back; but since I already wrote this reply, I'm going to post it anyway:
Originally posted by AppleOnYa:
First of all, whether Fredo was given a 'briefing' or not (which he was not entitled to anyway)...
Why was he not entitled to one? Wasn't he a Corleone brother? Doesn't he work in the family operations? He sat in on the Sollozzo meeting with Sonny and Tom, for goodness' sake. Why do think he was sent to Las Vegas to learn the Casino business in the first place?
... he should have known to keep his mouth shut ... He should have known that if Michael was there on behalf of the Corleone Family, then Michael was spaaking for their father and the Corleone Family. He should have known to... let Moe storm out of the room and not try to override his brother right in front of everyon by suggesting that Tom the consiglieri (as far as he knew) contact The Godfather to see what else could be done.
How should he have known? No one even told him that Vito was semi-retired until he learned it from Tom. No one told him that Vito had invested his powers in Michael. As far as he knew, Michael was making a proposal to
take back to his father -- show dad he had smarts and initiative.
Therein lies the whole problem, a problem precipitated by Michael: Fredo was excluded in a way that he wasn't under Vito. With Michael, he was not only excluded, but
dismissed. Is it any wonder that Roth's proposal was so tempting to him? He craved a sense of accomplishment, self-respect, inclusion.
Let's not forget that it's revealed in GFII that Moe Green was a close friend of Hyman Roth. Long as we're all using our creativity, it could be assumed that Moe relayed this incident to Roth which planted the seed in Roth's head that the weak, stupid Fredo Corleone could be easily misled and swayed into a phony deal such as the one he was.
And let's not forget, as Don Cardi has pointed out, that Roth was a business associate of Vito's and a business associate of Michael's. If Michael didn't know at the time that Roth was an enemy, how could he expect Fredo to know? With Michael encroaching on Roth's casino territory in Vegas the way he was, it was only a matter of time before Roth came after him, with or without Fredo's help.
Who was really the danger to Michael here? Fredo, for trying to smooth things out in a hotel room so his boss wouldn't slap him too hard the next day? Or Michael, who tried to usurp the riches of a powerful criminal like Roth? I'd say Michael.
