I. INTRODUCTION

A. Art of the Week

• At the Capitol spending time with young idealists working for their farmer-engineer turned dissident Congressman representing the heart of Appalachia against the attacks of the left and right alike. A Congressman of Constitutional Conscience. 

 B. Recommendation of the Week

• Revolt from the Heartland. Rediscovering true conservatism. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1556981.Revolt_from_the_Heartland

C. Wisdom of the Week

• Between “Us or Laos”, “I am wondering if it is not time for us to quit treating the good American in our own house as a louse.” Rep. Siler, Kentucky, 1959. 

https://appalachianhistorian.org/the-story-of-eugene-siler-from-whitley-kentucky/

D. Appearances

• Live w/ Baris
  
• Live w/ Rekieta https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7577211/nite-owl-special-live-w-rekieta

II. BEST OF THE BOARD

1. Arrest our own crooks. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7590540/this
2. New game: Blockgino! https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7590401/title
3. Our own artists. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7590177/this-painting-a-commission-is-almost-ready-to-be-signed-and-varnished-i-used-my-own-references-an
4. Viva: gatekeeping gate-keeps itself. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7587292/there-will-be-gatekeeping-deep-thought-of-the-day
5. A different time. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7589759/baltimores-marble-steps-a-distinctive-architectural-feature-popular-from-the-mid-19th-to
6. Truth about who wins promotion. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7589681/https-x-com-shreyas-status-2009773326059876719-s-46-t-kq-szkcyjrqpongym3k4q
7. Good news from Dave. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7586825/today-i-will-be-released-from-the-hospital-i-cannot-stand-being-confined-to-a-small-space-i-have
8. Freedom of horses. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7589702/title
9. Permanent wisdom. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7588878/title
10. A good, good opportunity. https://vivabarneslaw.locals.com/post/7588873/man-when-i-went-to-university-the-first-time-i-never-looked-up-what-my-grades-were-i-found-out-by

III. BARNES LIBRARY: CURATED STORIES OF THE WEEK

1. Blue-collar job loss. https://www.apricitas.io/p/america-is-losing-blue-collar-jobs
2. The populist moment comes to Democrats too. https://www.liberalpatriot.com/p/a-deeper-look-at-americas-anti-establishment
3. Limits on Venezuelan oil. https://prospect.org/2026/01/06/trump-maduro-venezuela-oil-imperialism/
4. Banksters are still the problem. https://quoththeraven.substack.com/p/monetary-policy-is-monetary-piracy
5. Venezuela recap. https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/big-surprise-legal-story-changesCBS new neocon network. https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-new-neoconservatives/
6. New food guidelines. https://realfood.gov
7. Vaccine schedule changes. https://x.com/AaronSiriSG/status/2009366832340455656?s=20=
8. New fraud AAG. https://www.govexec.com/management/2026/01/white-house-creates-new-assistant-attorney-general-focused-fraud/410583/
9. Credit card rate cap. https://cdn.vanderbilt.edu/vu-URL/wp-content/uploads/sites/412/2025/09/03183755/Capping-Credit-Card-Rates.pdf
10. Labor share low. 

IV. HOMEWORK: CASES OF THE WEEK FOR THE SUNDAY SHOW

1. ICE shooting. https://x.com/AlphaNews/status/2009679932289626385?s=20
2. Anti-trust betrayal. https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/real-estate-brokerages-avoided-merger-investigation-after-justice-department-rift-e846c797?
3. Habeas reform. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/scotus-bowe-us-opinion.pdf
4. Third Amendment? https://courthousenews.com/hotel-dispute-with-trump-administration-tests-rarely-cited-constitutional-rights/
5. Election reform efforts blocked. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/washington-oregon-trump-election-eo-order.pdf
6. Fraud programs protected. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/subramanian-ruling-on-childcare-emergency-motion.pdf
7. WWE class action. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/wwe-lawsuit-class-action-espn.pdf
8. Right to high school highlights. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/laurel-beeler-order-granting-in-part-and-denying-in-part.pdf
9. Ohio Abortion Law. https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/ohio-coa-abortion-injunction-opinion.pdf
10. AI settlement. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/07/technology/google-characterai-teenager-lawsuit.html

V. CLOSING ARGUMENT: THE CONSTITUTION, ARTICLE I, THE POWER OVER WAR

• Clause 11 of Section of Article I entitles Congress exclusively “to declare war” as well as to “grant letters of marque and reprisal” along with “Rules concerning captures on Land and water.” This executes the Preamble’s commitment to provide for “the common defense.” In addition, Congress alone defines offenses against the law of nations; the means to raise and support armies as well as establishing a navy; the rules for armed forces; and calling forth of the Militia. It removes this power from the states as “No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance or Confederation” nor “grant letters of Marque and reprisal” as well as “engage in War” unless invaded and in imminent danger. Indeed, treason is defined as “levying War” against the United States. 
• Article 2, by contrast, only affords the President the power to be “Commander in Chief” of the Army, Navy, and the Militia “when called into the actual service of the United States.” 
• Equally, the power to control Letters of Marque confirm this Constitutional power of Congress, distilling the power of war into many hands across representatives of the people subject to elections throughout the nation. A letter of Marque and Reprisal turned pirates into privateers, authorizing private enterprise to both attack and seize ships as well as cargo, arguably the foundation for modern sanctions as well as the use of force on the high seas. If sanctions power was intended as incidental to the Commander in Chief,  it wouldn’t;t be explicitly afforded Congress and explicitly denied the states. 
• The history of the Roman republic contextualizes this segregation of military power — the fear the Republic devolved into an Empire the moment it let one man cross the Rubicon and hoard the power to make war. 
• The analogy to the States serves the purpose to confine the Presidential power to unilaterally declare war, a necessary Constitutional predicate to making war. States could only make war without Congress if “actually invaded” and “in imminent danger.” This standard compares to the universal law of self-defense recognized the the law of nations, which Congress also gets to define the offenses against in the Constitution. 
• The only efficacious means of Constitutional enforcement of these provisions derives from the balance of powers (Congress control over the purse and Judicial control over property or person disputes derivative of the use of military force) and the Impeachment Clause of the Constitution for the kind of “high crime” derivative of the use of military force (trespass, kidnapping, piracy, battery, assault, murder). 
• The anti-Federalists feared even this power to precarious in the hands of a centralized, nationalized government, where “swayed by elites” they would devolve into “wars for conquest, not defense”, preferring this power devolve even further to the local and state level, enforced through the prohibition on standing armies, quartering armies in the community, and the power of arms in the hands of the people through the Militia and the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights. They especially worried about the capacity of a single man in the Presidency usurping the powers of the Commander in Chief to make war without even Congressional blessing. The Federalists promised the President could never do that without Congressional pre-approval, with John Jay promising this check effectively muted the fear of abuse of executive power. 
• Our founding generation abhorred emperors, despised empire, and feared any crossing of the Rubicon by a small elite or single person to kill a Republic for a would-be empire. Our founders denied the right to make conquest a legitimate objective of the national government. Why? Because they saw how adventurous, avaricious empires killed republics quicker than anything could. Don’t need to be a Star Wars fun to understand that; just need a Cliffs Notes history of the world. 

Join the VivaBarnesLaw Community

To read more articles like this, sign up and join my community today

Sign Up