Calling it "rationalization" is not "calling it what it is."
That poor audience. McElfresh said, "I see nodding heads out there, you know what I'm talking about, we're a team." (Something like that.)
Then the camera pans to the audience, sitting silently, stone-faced and motionless, like it was a funeral but less fun.
I've never had less confidence in AT&T leadership than I have after seeing that ship show. Hiding behind laughable euphemisms like that is the mark of cowardice and duplicity.