Hillary Clinton testified for over 8 hours Thursday in front the House Select Committee on Benghazi. But, did we actually learn anything new about the events of September 11, 2012?

You need to know this...Early on in Thursday's Benghazi Select Committee hearings, Chairman Trey Gowdy got super defensive with California Congressman Adam Schiff.

The hearings were not - he insisted - a prosecution of Hillary Clinton. They were a serious investigation into a serious matter involving the deaths of 4 Americans.

But, if Gowdy actually meant what he said about Thursday's hearings being an investigation and not a prosecution, he and his fellow Republicans had a hard time showing it.

We heard a lot at those hearings. We heard about Hillary Clinton's emails with her friend Sidney Blumenthal. We heard that she might have tried to spin the invasion of Libya for political gain.

We also heard - once again - a deep dive into whether or not the Obama administration lied when it said the attacks in Benghazi were the result of a protest - not terrorism.

But, if you've been paying attention to the Benghazi "scandal" from the beginning, you probably didn't hear anything new at Thursday's hearing. And that's the point.

What we saw this week wasn't about getting to the bottom of a controversy seven previous committees have looked at, it was about smearing Hillary Clinton - the Democratic front runner for president. Gowdy said it wasn't about that, but anyone who was watching could see the clear truth.

Republicans have spend more than $4.5 million dollars of taxpayer money pretending to investigate Benghazi. Thankfully, the public is now aware of their sham of a committee, and can vote accordingly next November.

-Thom

(What do you think? Tell us here.)

Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... Worst Hurricane Ever - Why? (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

Friday's Daily Stack

Article: "Hillary Clinton Testimony at House Select Committee on Benghazi" by C-SPAN.

Video: "Have you no sense of Decency Sir?" - Welch-McCarthy, June 9 1954.

Article: "Why I’m Absolutely an Angry Black Woman" by Dominique Matti.

Article: "Hurricane Patricia: Mexico awaits 'strongest ever' storm" by BBC.

Article: "Even Conservatives Realize Hillary Clinton's Benghazi Committee Hearing Was Ridiculous" by Marina Fang.

Article: "26 bankers already sentenced to a combined 74 years in prison" by Iceland Magazine.

Article: "Boehner Appoints 4 Men, 4 Women To Panel Investigating Planned Parenthood" by Caitlin Cruz.

Article: "Jeb Bush tries to save his flailing campaign by cutting back on staffing—for the second time" by David Nir.

Article: "Presidential Pardons" by Mark Hughes.

Site: change.org.

Site: Governor Free Don Siegelman.

GoFundMe: "Killing 'Atticus Finch': The Political Assassination of Don Siegelman".

Article: "Scandal (TV series)" by Wikipedia.

Hour Two: Labor Weighs In On Canada's Liberal Victory
- Leo Gerard, United Steelworkers

Article: "Canadian unions cheer as voters toss out right-wing Prime Minister Harper" by Mark Gruenberg.

Article: "Justin Trudeau Did What FDR Could Not: Win With Keynes" by Bill Scher.

Article: "TPP: Foie Gras for Corporations; Dead Rats for Workers" by Leo W. Gerard.

Article: "Preston Manning" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Conservatives pass controversial anti-terror bill Bill C-51".

Article: "Keystone & TPP under question as Canada elects Liberal PM " by RT.

Article: "Attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Transcript: Bin Laden determined to strike in US" by CNN.

Article: "CREW Files Complaint Against Rubio, Tillis Groups" by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

Article: "How Bernie Sanders plans to explain 'democratic socialism'" by Sunlen Serfaty.

Article: "Voting Rights Act Section 4 Struck Down By Supreme Court" by Ryan J. Reilly. Mike Sacks, Sabrina Siddiqui, 06/25/2013.

Article: "Scottish Professor Figures Out How To Turn Whisky Waste Into Energy" by Samantha Page.

Article: "Ecological Balance and Biological Integrity" by Elaine Ingham (Klebsiella planticola--The Gene-Altered Monster That Almost Got Away).

Book: "Threshold: The Progressive Plan to Pull America Back from the Brink" by Thom Hartmann.

Talk Radio News Segment:
- Victoria Jones

Article: "Democrats to stay on Benghazi panel _ for now" by Matthew Daly.

Article: "Boehner Taps 8 GOP’ers For Planned Parenthood Committee" by Justin Duckham.

Article: "Club for Growth and Koch nurtured Freedom Caucus" by Isaac Arnsdorf.

Article: "What is the House Freedom Caucus, and who’s in it?" by Drew DeSilver.

Article: "Dems Urge House Republicans To Pass Clean Debt Ceiling Bill" by Ebony Romero.

Article: "Obama Issues 2016 Defense Policy Bill A Veto" by Loree Lewis.

Article: "Paul Ryan To Run For Speaker" by Nicholas Salazar.

Article: "Paul Ryan hedges on conditions, agrees to run for Speaker" by Steve Benen.

Article: "Barack Obama says death penalty 'deeply troubling'" by Kevin Liptak.

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Article: "TRNS News Notes- 10/23" by Victoria Jones.

Article: "TRNS News Notes- 10/22" by Victoria Jones.

Hour Three: 'Window of Opportunity' to Feel the Bern
- Phil Proctor (Firesign Theatre)
- John Densmore (The Doors)
- Filmmaker Sam Joseph, Click here for tickets & info.

Video: Window of Opportunity trailer.

Event: Los Angeles, Wednesday 10/28/15, 7:30pm PT "Fundraiser for Bernie Sanders".

Article: "Zero-sum game" by Wikipedia.

Case: "Plessy v. Ferguson", 1896 (separate but equal).

Video: "Ronald Reagan States' Rights Speech in Philadelphia, MS", August 3, 1980.

Article: "Mississippi civil rights workers' murders" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Project Implicit" by Harvard University.

Article: "The scientific explanation for the Benghazi hearings" by ehrnst.

Article: "Why is Marijuana Illegal?" by Pete Guither.

Article: "10th Amendment" "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people".

Quote: "Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration." - Abraham Lincoln, December 3, 1861.

Book: "Unequal Protection: The Battle to Save Democracy" by Thom Hartmann (read online).

Book: "Unequal Protection: How Corporations Became "People" - And How You Can Fight Back" by Thom Hartmann - new updated version out now!

Article: "How Beijing used rockets to keep opening ceremony dry" by Clifford Coonan.

Monday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 12-3pm ET

I'll be asking Saru Jayaraman of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, Is It Time To Ban Tipping?

And, the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...

The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"

And don't forget...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...

Please support the Hunter School, a unique therapeutic boarding school for young children diagnosed with ADHD, Anxiety, Sensory, Mood and related conditions...

Did the Benghazi hearing reveal any new information?

Vote here!

Bernie Slams Obama’s FDA Pick

The Prosecution of Hillary Clinton

Why Doesn't the DEA Go After Big Pharma On Opiates?

Why Does Gov Support Charter Schools?

Time To Return to "Radical" Socialist Policies

Full Show 10/22/15: WSJ Attacks Bernie’s “Radical” Ideas

Thom discusses today’s Benghazi hearing with political strategists Karl Frisch and Mike Lux, the House Speaker debacle with attorney Mike Papantonio, and our nation’s prescription pill problem with professor John Temple. In tonight's “Daily Take” Thom debunks the Wall Street Journal’s latest attack piece on Bernie Sanders.

Rep. Alan Grayson: Seniors Deserve a Raise...

Caller: What if Benghazi Attack hadn't Happened on 9/11?

Newsweek: Republicans Using Benghazi Deaths to Raise Money

Trey Gowdy Goes After Hillary on Sidney Blumenthal...

Rep. Alan Grayson on the Benghazi Farce...

Caller: Hillary Needs to Talk about Lack of Funding

Congressman Jim Jordan Accuses Hillary of Lying about Benghazi...