what does "achieved a pinnacle of rationalization"mean? He was wrong. Berger was right. Nevertheless both had been spurred by the same impulse: the need for action. To active men immobility was literally intolerable; therefore they issued fatuous orders, placed or attempted to place unnecessary long-distance calls, bellowed (Yarborough), abandoned posts (Baskin). If an excuse for action didn't come to mind, they invented one and persuaded themselves that it made sense. This was largely a male reaction—Evelyn Lincoln, Pam Turnure, and Mary Gal-lagher sat helplessly in the cubicles of Major Medicine—but it was a vigorous woman, Liz Carpenter, who achieved a pinnacle of rationalization.Liz and Marie Fehmer had been left in Parkland's administrative offices with aspirin and water. They had no idea what was happening and were growing increasingly restless. A passing employee called out that Kennedy had been shot. Liz thereupon jumped to an extraordinary conclusion. The President had been scheduled to address a luncheon at the Trade Mart. If he were wounded, he obviously couldn't talk. Therefore, she explained to Marie, the Vice President would have to speak in his place, and as members of the Johnson staff they should be present.