Sunlight’s Bill Allison, at Real Time Investigations, links to a Many Eyes presentation of the Blagojevich criminal complaint. Looking at the visualization makes one thing clear: while the selling of the Senate seat is by far his most audacious activity, the rest of the charges are actually far, far worse. The imperious pressure the Governor put on the Tribune Company to fire editorial board members and staff is reminiscent of a third world dictator. The pay-to-play contract rigging is also horrific. Just look at this:

On October 8, Blagojevich told Individual A that he wanted to obtain a $50,000 contribution from Hospital Executive 1, the chief executive officer of Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, which had recently received a commitment of $8 million in state funds. When the contribution was not forthcoming, Blagojevich discussed with Deputy Governor A the feasibility of rescinding the funding.

The Governor threatened to close a Children’s Hospital over a $50,000 campaign contribution.