I. INTRODUCTION

A.  Art of the Week

• All I want for Valentine's is Lady Justice. Archangel Michael delivering justice, as we need for those in the Epstein Class. 

B.  Recommendation of the Week

• Before Epstein Files, there was The Whistleblower. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9258131-the-whistleblower

C.  Wisdom of the Week

• “I weep for the liberty of my country when I see at this early day of its successful experiment that corruption has been imputed to many members of the House of Representatives, and the rights of the people have been bartered for promises of office.” Andrew Jackson. 

D.  Appearances

• LIVE w/ Alex Jones https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7681357/live-w-alex-jones
• LIVE w/ Nina Infinity
  
• LIVE w/ That Star Wars Girl
  

II. THE EVIDENCE

A reminder: links are NOT endorsements of the authors or their interpretation of events, but intended to expand our library of understanding as well as expose ideas of distinct perspective to our own. 

A. Barnes Library: Ten of the Top Curated Weekly Articles

1. The Epstein elite. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/unsettling-truths-epstein-files-reveal-about-power-and-privilege
2. Corruption of the academy. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/03/mellon-foundation-humanities-research-funding/685733/
3. Israel 1st wants to end Free Speech. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2026/02/13/is_free_speech_really_the_highest_value_153834.html
4. Nobody likes Newsom. https://www.liberalpatriot.com/p/gavin-newsom-youre-no-bill-clinton
5. Hawley-Warren bill seeks to end monopoly in medicine. https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/senators-seek-to-smash-big-medicine
6. Polymarket grocery stores. https://unherd.com/newsroom/inside-polymarkets-free-public-grocery-store/
7. Security State. https://greenwald.substack.com/p/amazons-ring-and-googles-nest-unwittingly
8. Housing market woes. https://substack.com/home/post/p-187448844
9. Leverage risks. https://quoththeraven.substack.com/p/countdown-to-detonation-americas
10. Epstein network. https://epstein-doc-explorer-1.onrender.com

B. Homework: Cases of the Week for Sunday

1. Texas AG joins Dr. Bowden. https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/images/press/Bowden%20Intervention%20(Filed)_0.pdf
2. Alex Jones sues. https://www.scribd.com/document/997131709/Alex-Jones-Amended-Counterclaim-for-Filing-In-The-United-States-Bankruptcy-Court-For-The-Southern-District-Of-Texas
3. Gail Slater removed. https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/trump-antitrust-chief-ousted-by-ticketmaster
4. I will sue Mike Davis. https://x.com/barnes_law/status/2022467828255768629?s=20
5. Wisconsin election integrity takes a loss. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/wisconsin-ballot-spoiling-ban-reversed.pdf
6. Texas election integrity gets a win. https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/24/24-50783-CV0.pdf
7. Two big 2A cases in 3rd. https://courthousenews.com/two-third-circuit-hearings-could-reshape-nations-second-amendment-rights/
8. Another TPS order blocked. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/african-communities-v-noem-mass-ruling.pdf
9. Epstein BOA suit goes forward. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/doe-v-bank-of-america-new-york-ruling.pdf
10. Dollar Tree death. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/max-antonio-garay-v-dollar-tree.pdf
11. Boasberg latest insanity. https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2025cv0766-247
12. Trump immigration win. https://www.phelps.com/a/web/r5pKxiJkFZ7QKozjTbS8V2/ca5detention.pdf

*Bonus: Livenation Ticketmaster Antitrust https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/music/music-industry-news/live-nation-doj-lawsuit-after-gail-slater-resignation-1236504011/

**Bonus: NCAAF eligibility suit. https://www.knoxnews.com/picture-gallery/sports/college/university-of-tennessee/football/2026/02/13/joey-aguilar-eligibility-hearing-tennessee-vs-ncaa/88659399007/

***Bonus: AI plagiarism win. https://www.newsday.com/long-island/education/adelphi-university-ai-plagiarism-lawsuit-oh07enyz

C. Best of the Board: Ten of the Top Posts

1. Too much truth. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7688284/best-explanation-of-our-two-party-system-benowen
2. Life on the line. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7687846/god-bless-and-protect-thomas-massie
3. Prayer & a cute dog. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7688117/daily-prayer-2-0-heavenly-father-give-us-comfort-and-wisdom-allow-us-to-trust-your-judgement-and-y
4. Surf. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7688060/pipeline-hawaii
5. Real diversity. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7688513/title
6. Hush Hush ideas. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7688104/robertbarnes-just-saw-a-news-article-talking-about-the-great-chicago-fire-being-started-by-communis
7. Wisdom. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7687331/title
8. Bill Brown Proverbs. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7686413/title
9. Truth. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7684892/title
10. My answer is Yes. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7687202/does-god-answer-your-prayers-i-ask-because-i-pray-everyday-whether-typed-down-here-or-mentally-reci

III. CLOSING ARGUMENT: Constitution Masterclass Series — Article I, Elections

• Article I, section 4 empowered the legislative branch of the federal government — the Congress — “may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations” otherwise set by the legislatures of the state governing the “elections for Senators and Representatives” except to the Places of chusing Senators, later modified by the Seventeenth Amendment. Each House can further be the “Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members” including the power to expel “with the Concurrence of two thirds.” The Constitution affords no express power to Congress to elect the President or elect those to state or local office. And remember, Article I powers are constricted to those “herein granted” explicitly within the Constitution. 
• Representatives must be “apportioned” amongst the States “according to their respective Numbers”, a determination made by “adding to the whole Number of free Persons” certain individuals no longer referenced after the Fourteenth Amendment. The “actual enumeration” of this apportionment “shall be made…within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.” The original intention was that there were at least one representative for “every thirty Thousand”.
• The Fourteenth Amendment modified these provisions by stating representatives be apportioned “to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed.” Of note, the provision also stripped representation of any state which limited Presidential electors beyond the limits of gender, age, citizenship, crime, or rebellion. 
• The Fifteenth Amendment modified these provisions further by providing a “right of citizens of the United States to vote” and that such a right could not be denied on basis of race. 
• The Seventeenth Amendment modified these provisions further by providing that the “people thereof” elect the Senators instead of the legislative branches of those state governments. 
• The Nineteenth Amendment modified the provisions even further by expanding the Fifteenth Amendment’s right of citizens to vote to women. 
• The TwentyFourth Amendment modified these provisions even further by holding the right of the citizens to vote in federal elections could not be limited based on taxes, including poll taxes. 
• The Twenty-Sixth Amendment expanded these voting rights to include those 18 years of age or older that are citizens. 
• Each of these Amendments repeated: “the right citizens of the United States to vote” as the entire premise of these Amendments to the Constitution for governing elections. Yet, somehow, the courts held in 2020 no such right existed to even afford standing to request judicial relief from stolen elections for the highest office in the land, and even when brought between states for the only nationally elected office? 

I.   INTRODUCTION

A.   Art of the Week

·      One of the first superb memes for the Brief, recollecting a device many youngsters might not even recognize: the old typewriter, with its diligent use of the keys that moved like a an old cash register before recording its mark onto the page, and the ever needful Whiteout to fix the inevitable error, stacking the pages neatly somewhere nearby because once lost, never recovered. A time when writing required a different kind of dedication.

B.   Wisdom of the Week

·      “Civility is not a sign of weakness, but of strength.” President John Kennedy.

C.   Recommendation of the Week

·      Current book club reading over at People’s Pundit on the important virtue of a return to civil society. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17974854-our-virtuous-republic

D.  Appearances of the Week

·      Chatting w/ Stanislav.

II.   The Evidence

Become a Supporter

I. INTRODUCTION

A.  Art of the Week

A dream work space, atop a lighthouse, with wrap-around windows above the ocean’s roar and the tumult of the waves cresting and crashing against the rocks below, a wrap-around desk to match the window shape, a good hard wooden chair for support, and the necessary small heater with stove to keep it warm and refreshed. I love architectural spaces that marry the inner world to the outside, the natural external environment to the man-made inside. Makes me want to read, work, think, and dream. 

B.  Recommendation of the Week

The peculiar history of the Sixteenth Amendment. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22474138-the-law-that-never-was-vol-1-the-fraud-of-the-16th-amendment-and-pers

C.  Wisdom of the Week

“When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.” Frederic Bastiat. 

D.  Appearances

• Barnes Brothers
  
• Betting w/ Barnes AMA https://sportspicks.locals.com/post/7619256/live-betting-w-barnes-wednesday-january-21-2026
• Tennessee Press Conference https://x.com/StacyCase_/status/2014088250185359451?s=20
• RT Perspective Interview
  

II. THE EVIDENCE 

A reminder: links are NOT endorsements of the authors or their interpretation of events, but intended to expand our library of understanding as well as expose ideas of distinct perspective to our own. 

A. Barnes Library: Five of the Top Curated Weekly Articles 

1. Dems warn: losing cultural issues. https://www.liberalpatriot.com/p/democrats-and-the-siren-call-of-culture
2. Replicating DOGE. https://www.city-journal.org/article/elon-musk-doge-states-waste-fraud?skip=1
3. Cuba next for regime change. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/is-cuba-next/ar-AA1UEeUA
4. Trump 2024 coalition lost. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/01/22/polls/times-siena-national-poll-crosstabs.html
5. Out of WHO! https://thehill.com/policy/international/5702306-us-officially-withdraws-from-who/

B. Homework: Dozen of the Top Cases of the Week for Sunday

1. ICE Home Raids w/o a Warrant. https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/can-ice-enter-a-home-to-make-an-arrest-with-only-an-administrative-warrant
2. Don Lemon charges. https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/22/don-lemon-prosecution-justice-department-00741629
3. SCOTUS: state rules in Med Mal cases. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-440_1b82.pdf
4. SCOTUS: Restitution is punishment. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-482_d1oe.pdf
5. SCOTUS: Time deadlines for void cases. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-808_lkgn.pdf
6. SCOTUS: Trump & the Fed. https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/2025/25a312_c0nd.pdf
7. SCOTUS: 2ndA. https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/2025/24-1046_hejm.pdf
8. 2A & property. https://courthousenews.com/appeals-court-weighs-challenge-to-texas-gun-signage-laws/
9. Trump vs JP Morgan. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/trump-v-jp-morgan-miami-eleventh-judicial-circuit.pdf
10. Games of chance. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/minnesota-tribe-loses-challenge-to-electronic-table-games.pdf
11. Target cancer. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/dangerous-acne-treatment.pdf
12. Bayer immunity. https://www.scotusblog.com/cases/case-files/monsanto-company-v-durnell/

*Bonus: Section 241 & 1A. https://www.scotusblog.com/cases/case-files/monsanto-company-v-durnell/

**Bonus: Section 241 in the 8th Circuit. https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/6/1297/576550/

***Bonus: Warrants. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/403/443/

C. Best of the Board: Ten of the Top Posts

1. Stay chill. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7627349/title
2. JD welcome. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7627643/i-sure-hope-and-pray-that-jd-gets-a-chance-to-lead-our-country-after-this-trump-administration-he
3. Peace Board thoughts. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7627852/a-very-interesting-take-on-trumps-peace-board-is-trump-creating-a-new-organization-undermining-the
4. Immigration data review. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7627593/food-for-thought-are-the-claims-that-around-2-million-illegal-aliens-have-already-self-deported-too
5. Fun satire. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7627870/title
6. Scott Adams memorial. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7627060/livestream-in-honor-of-scott-adams-next-sunday-jan-25-i-hope-it-s-the-biggest-livestream-ever
7. Brilliant photos. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7626511/some-northern-lights
8. CIA Insanity. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7626494/robertbarnes-robert-barnes-has-repeatedly-referred-to-this-egregious-seymour-hersh-article-in-re
9. Don Lemon Church videos. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7627194/here-is-dons-full-live-stream-im-not-good-at-clipping-things-out-or-screen-recording-so-those-of
10. Fun memes. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7627227/title

*Bonus: Biblical wisdom. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7626746/today-s-thought-11and-behold-there-was-a-woman-which-had-a-spirit-of-infirmity-eighteen-years

III.  Closing Argument: Constitution Masterclass Series — Article I, Power to Tax

• As part of the enumerated legislative powers granted Congress by the Constitution, none is more potent, and potentially destructive, of liberty and property than the power to “raise revenue.” Under section 8 of Article I, this affords the “power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposes and excises” to “pay the debts” or “provide for the common Defense” or provide for “the general Welfare of the United States.” Of note, the Constitution separately affords the legislative branch methods of revenue raising independent of taxes and tariffs — the power “to borrow money on the credit of the United States” and the power “to coin money” as well as “regulate the value thereof.” 
• The limits on this power to tax derive from several other sections of Article I. Under Section 7 of Article I, all bills for raising revenue must originate in the House, not the Senate. The next limit is substantive rather than procedural: “all duties, imposts and excises” have to be “uniform throughout the United States.” The foremost, fundamental limit requires any “direct taxes” must be “apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union.” Indeed, section 9 of Article 1 imposes the requirement that “no capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration herein.” Of note, no tax could be imposed on articles exported from a state. 
• These two big requirements — Uniformity and Apportionment — are the key restraints on the power to tax, segregating taxes into two separate categories: Direct Taxes and Indirect Taxes. Indirect Taxes only require Uniformity. 
• Uniformity requires indirect taxes operate with the same force and same effect in every state, precluding Congress from geographical favorites. Uniformity is solely a prohibition on the geographic impact of the tax, rather than classification based on some factor other than geography. Apportionment is the real hurdle. Apportionment req tires direct taxes be divided among the states based on  that state’s population, a politically impossible barrier to cross in the modern era. This effectively neuters the power of Congress to impose any Direct Tax without Constitutional Amendment. 
• What then is a Direct Tax? The first case to address this dates to the early years of our Constitutional Republic, when Supreme Court Justices wrote their own opinions, often without a shared majority. The law at issue as a carriage tax. Complaining about how apportionment would make any tax “absurd and inequitable” the early Court decided to water down the Direct Tax definition in order to escape the Apportionment Constitutional conditionality of such a tax. The split amongst the jurists left the question mostly undecided, with the dumbest argument being the Justice who claimed if a Direct Tax could not be easily apportioned, then it was magically no longer a Direct Tax. The latter would be invalidated and effectively mocked by the Court a century later, when it noted “such a tax, for more than one hundred years of national existence, has as yet remained undiscovered, notwithstanding the stress of particular circumstances has invited thorough investigation into sources of revenue.” 
• The Court invalidated the income tax portions of the Tariff Act of 1894. That Act limited itself to a 2% tax on $4K+ of income, which 99% of Americans did not owe, as exempt from it. The tax imposed a tax on real estate rents, and Congress justified it as an excise tax and thus Indirect. The Court clarified the definition of Direct Tax in accord with originating principles: any tax whose liability “cannot be avoided” was a Direct Tax; only taxes that could “shift the burden upon someone else” with “no legal compulsion to pay them” were considered Indirect. The Court went further, and identified Direct Taxes as the kind commonly imposed by States at the time of the Founding, including taxes on real estate, personal property, or the rents or income thereof, like taxes on people. Taxes on franchises, privileges or use were seen as Indirect Taxes. The dissenting justices would have held a tax on revenues “severed from the source” of those revenues was an Indirect Tax. That dissent would matter decades later. 
• The Sixteenth Amendment removed the apportionment  clause for the tax power, providing: “Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States” or in proportion to the census or enumeration herein. Why? Because the Supreme Court determined the 1893 federal tax on incomes was a “Direct Tax” that had not been apportioned. This removal of “incomes” from the apportionment requirement tempted Congress to never define the word income itself in the future hope they could escape and evade the apportionment requirement by just labeling a future new tax a tax “on incomes.” 
• The understanding of how broadly Congress could label a tax as an “income” tax to escape apportionment for direct taxation took a turn in 1916, when dissenting Justices from the prior 1896 decision now held sway. They decided that the 16th Amendment merely codified their 1896 dissent, thus forever constraining Congress’ capacity to use the income tax exception from apportionment as its escape and evasion tool. Congress’ answer was to simply never define income ever again, except in manners self-referential and circular. 
• A fully enforced Constitution would find any tax on property or people directly that make individual Americans liable must be apportioned unless within the limited definition of income the Court gave it — gain and profit severed from the source of that gain and property. Like much of our policy debates, a solution often sits in the text of the Constitution itself.