Hi!

Of course, everybody have the right to their own opinion. We're exchanging them freely here, and - who knows - perhaps, my opinion will influence yours, and yours will influence mine. That is, as the time passes, this will most certainly happen, if it hasn't already happened once or twice. That's the beauty of this place.

However, in this particular case I would dare to most politely disagree with you.

Mike was grossly offended in public, and his authority and handling of the situation put under a big question in private. Many a perpetrator would've left the estate in a parcel, feet first. Frankie, however, was an integral part of Mike's further plans, so he was left alive for now under the petty excuse of drunkeness and such.

Let me give another example. "I don't want anything happen to him as long as our mother is alive". It's another, albeit less veiled phrase indicating the eventual fate of the person in question. Is it a hit order? No. Is Fredo doomed? Yes.

A more questionable, but still my favourite from GFIII: "If anything happens to Mike, I want you to strike back". May be interpreted as a blank check given by Connie to Vincent: "Let him die, and you'll take over".

Generally speaking, the increasingly Bysantine complexity of the GF trilogy comes in part from the language used by the heroes. And, as far as I know, this sort of veiled indications and hints is indeed used very often, and not only by the specific community we're considering here.

Best regards.

Alexander