Ukraine has about as much chance of being invited to join the European Union -for the sake of argument, let's say by the next pass of Halley's comet -- as it does in placing among the top 10 nations on Transparency International's honor roll.

Halley, the comet, will next make a near-earth visit in July 2061, about a half-century from now. I probably won't be around for that day.

And we all know that for many years, Ukraine has been near dead last on Transparency International's goody/baddie-nation list. Transparency in Ukraine is something you'd need the Hubble telescope to find.

So when it comes to being invited into the European Union club -- where you have to metaphorically show up in a tuxedo -- Ukraine shows up at the gate in torn and faded jeans and wearing brogans with mud on the soles.

With rampant corruption, a wacky judicial system and political leadership that acts like it should be at the top of a fight card, Ukraine has been informed by EU bigwigs that its membership hopes are damned slim.

That's probably an understatement. The EU doesn't even want to have a serious talk. And Ukraine's leadership, at this point, couldn't agree on whether to bag with paper, plastic or boxes at the local supermarket.

The fact is that the European Commission is right to be standoffish. Why would they want another country with so many problems, when their membership already includes so many basket cases?

In case you haven't noticed, things aren't exactly hunky-dory with the last group of former Eastern bloc countries that slipped wholesale into EU membership. For that matter, even old Europe has a hard time meeting its EU economic requirements.

If Ukraine were admitted to the European Union tomorrow, President Yushchenko and Prime Minister Tymoshenko would still toss wicked left hooks at one another. Judges would still accept bribes, and corruption would still be part of the nation's DNA.

In my view, Ukraine should stop wishing for something that is not going to happen, and start working toward solutions that make things happen. Eventually, this could lead to EU membership.

Ukraine should remember the Orange Revolution not as a big, colorful balloon from which the air slowly leaked, but as the harbinger of two great advances: A fairly free press and the foundation for democratic elections. Not a bad result - particularly when you consider that it happened without a drop of blood shed.

Does Ukraine need another so-called 'color' revolution? I'm an American expat, and it's not for me to say. But, at least, the country needs to remember the spirit of its Orange Revolution.

And I can tell you this, when people say they are mad as hell and aren't going to take it any more, even Ukraine's leaders seem to get the message.

I'm Mike Willard, and I am the Ukraine Observer.