Please issue a correction, by city proper it should be New York, L.A. Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia with Dallas at 9th and D.C. at 22nd  By Metro it would be New York, LA, Chicago, Dallas, Houston with Washington as 6th.

“Mitchell apparently joked that Sorkin was making the common mistake of confusing ‘meritocracy with meretricious,’ but to no avail.”
In Sorkin’s limited defense, this is a very bad joke.