It's also possible--just barely--that Michael was being sarcastic. Clearly Clemenza was smart enough to stick with him. Tessio wasn't.
I don't know about that TB. Clemenza's decision to stick with Michael was probably more a function of loyalty than intelligence. Besides, Vito and Michael purposely represented the Corleones as vulnerable. That charade was good enough to fool Barzini; thus, it was good enough to fool Tessio.
"Generosity. That was my first mistake." "Experience must be our only guide; reason may mislead us." "Instagram is Twitter for people who can't read."
