I was asked about how decorated Washington DC is for Christmas. Almost Nothing. One tree lighted I could see from Uber so far... weird

Ernie absolutely did the best thing that anybody can do when asked by government to have an attorney. Ernie didn't have one, and wouldn't accept government's offer to appoint one for him. Why is this good? Because having attorney automatically places a person, by agreement, into the jurisdiction of the courts, where the courts can dictate your position in any court action. This doesn't mean that you can't have many attorneys as "co-councilors." It means that they can't speak for you in court, and that you are not their 'client'. Doing it this way lets you have the experience of the attorneys, without being under the thumb of the court. The fact that a man or woman can have a jury as judge, shows that men and women are above the court system, if they are wise enough to stay that way.