I agree that compromising Geary was a great coup for the Corleones. But I think it was Michael's idea--or at least I don't think Tom would have had blanket approval to murder someone without Michael's prior approval. See this thread:
http://www.gangsterbb.net/threads/ubbthr...=true#Post36125And yes, Michael never really wanted to be totally legit. In the case of gambling, he could have been a totally legit casino owner in Nevada. But was he? Nope! He "owned or controlled three hotels," as Geary noted, but in his Senate testimony later, Michael said that he "owned some shares" in the hotels. Did he want to legitimately buy into the Tropigala? Nope! He sent Neri to muscle Klingman out of his interest. For that matter, he could have made a clean break with the "olive oil business" after moving to Nevada. But did he? Nope! We see him giving orders to Frankie and involving himself in territorial disputes with the Rosato brothers, who are into drugs and prostitution.
Further down the road: "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in," he complains--immediately after presiding over a Commission meeting.
