Thanks for replying TonyTough,

Sammy Gravano was (and might still be) a very conflicted person. He is the type that will lie and believe his own lies. For him to say he would not have tried to kill Gotti, coming from him, that means nothing. Sammy is very unstable. We know Sammy has some kind of heart because we've seen him tear up on TV, but we know he has no morals because of his history. He is not proud to be a murderer...he might actually be ashamed of it, but I don't think he could stop killing on his own. I regard him as an impulsive killer that kills because he's compelled to. He might be addicted to killing, like people smoke cigarettes and can't stop.

Oh, BTW, I think he whacked his business partners and took their wealth not only because of greed, but also because he was just a compulsive killer. It's naive to think that someone like Sammy would stop killing once he made enough money.

I don't think Sammy could ever have enough money. Gotti should have whacked him

Mulberry, it would have been a great move on gottis part, if he would have had demeos boys carve gravano up.

gotti might have beat that last case,and never died in jail, I don't know why gotti didn't smell that rat sooner.

There's a a good case to be made that Gotti created Gravano as a rat.

Lets all remember that Gotti was caught ON TAPE bad mouthing and BLAMING Gravano for the DiBernardo, Milito and Dibono hits.

Now this is before the indictment.

Gotti sanctioned EVERYONE of those hits and was caught dead to rights blaming Gravano for them.

If you're UB and your BOSS sells you down the stream when then Feds have yet to knock on your door, its understandable to lose more than a little faith.

Im not saying that justifies turning rat, but it sure as hell paints it in a different light...

EDIT: Its not beyond reasonable to believe Gravano wouldve never ratted if not for Gotti's 'self-ratting' on those tapes. IE Gravano wouldve done his stretch if not for those tape's.

I think Gravano would have ratted either way. He had never been to prison before and was facing life. From reading his own book I thought he was a weasel.

sonny. you bring up an interesting question. on the tapes if gotti was leaning toward clipping Sammy, that could have been the reason Sammy flipped

however he was such a murdering low life, I go along with mulberry. he was a dog looking out only for his own skin.

Makes sense, SonnyBlackstein. Sammy said it was those tapes that made him decide to flip. That could of been a half-truth. It wasn't Gotti badmouthing him that made Gravano decide to flip, but that Gotti was caught on tape saying they were involved in the murders. He new he had to shot at seeing freedom and ratted.

Well, when you look at it that way, John Gotti was going to jail anyway and Sammy just got out of the way. Sammy did in the other people he took down, but not Gotti. Gotti convicted himself.

Let's not forget that- even if by a miracle gotti and sammy beat the case, Sammy himself said that one of the reasons he flipped was because from the tapes, he knew he'd have problems with gotti down the line

gotti was clearly unhappy with him and Sammy knew he wouldn't win a war with gotti.

Also, side note.

I keep reading previous posts about "how dumb a boss gotti was" that he wasn't a smart boss

I agree to some extent but according to Sammy's own words, despite him thrashing gotti every chance he got

Sammy agreed on one thing," oh no, john was SMART, no question about it"

He was smart in solidifying his power in the family by knocking guys down keeping guys close to him like jojo, John giordano

I happen to think Sammy would have flipped regardless. He may have pulled a Leonetti by rolling the dice at trial and then contacting the government if convicted.
These guys who say " they flipped for their kids"; perhaps they did but why not change for their kids before they ever were arrested..

Some of these mob kids don't seem to have any qualms with the way their fathers lived life. Some of them don't seem to want to make their own way in life. Some of them try to profit on their fathers killing, extorting and taking advantage of their own. Worst case scenario some follow in their fathers footsteps.

That's one of the things I loved about The Sopranos. Tony's children loved him but they were disengaged with him and his lifestyle, and Meadow fought him tooth and nail over it.

That's something (one of the things) Sopranos has over Breaking Bad and The Wire. Better defined, more well rounded female characters and stronger acting.

Carmela and Gloria had some great scenes with Tony.

Sorry for going on one tangent and ending on another.

I don't think he was a good boss. He had charm and according to other mobsters he was a good negotiator. Now, he had a vision to become boss much like Lucky Luciano - only Luciano didn't f*ck the family the way Gotti did. Gotti seemed to enjoy the public and wasn't very secrative - still hanging around in his social club, where he had been sitting for years before? - Also he put his idiot kid in as acting boss, and his much more idiot brother Peter...who tried to extort Steven Segal - remember that?

Gotti made a great story in the mafia lengeds tho.

Yeah it's funny how young kids throughout the world that want to put up some kind of online cringe wannabe gangster facade always refer to him, one of the worst bosses in Gambino history. Now credit must be given when it's due: Gotti was memorable. None of the young kids today know who Carlo Gambino was, but they're all over Gotti.

A few Dapper Don videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2d0_UFxTwc&feature=player_embedded

http://www.ahctv.com/tv-shows/mafias-gre...-teflon-don.htm

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x106f9d_john-gotti-mafia-boss-gambino-crime-family_news .

IIRC, Gravano in the 60 minutes interview he did (which is fantastic for people like us), said something along the lines of "If John had even one time apologized for what was on those tapes, I'd be doing life instead of sitting here right now".

Maybe somebody can find the direct quote

He said that in his book.

That's the point, though. It's NOT a good thing for the general public to know who you are. The Mafia gained power by staying in the shadows as much as possible (amongst many other reasons).

anyone involved with the castellano hit was going to die..sammy never would has been spared..gotti decicco gravano angelo r. gene gotti. borrielo, lino..plus a few others were never going to live..gas pipe flipping saved whom ever was left..if sammy killed john..within a few months he would have been set up..

Well put

I Gotti go.

I was going to make a joke but I forgotti what it was.