Fresh from summer vacation, lawmakers last week were back to the shenanigans that have made Ukraine's parliament a source of entertainment and fodder for YouTube.
But as the former Soviet republic struggles with a devastated economy and fears for the stability of Russian gas supplies this winter, many Ukrainians say it's time the 450-member legislature got serious.
But all signs point to more chaos as the Jan. 17 presidential election approaches.
The power structure that emerged from the 2004 Orange Revolution, the high point of Ukraine's struggle to banish Soviet-era politics, is in disarray.
The heroes of the mass protests, President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko, have become bitter enemies who don't talk to each other. The feud between these two Western-oriented leaders has hurt their popularity, and the man they vanquished, Russian-favored Viktor Yanukovych, now tops the opinion polls.
This is surely a sign of freedom. But it is not a sign of a healthy democracy.
Nor is it a sign of a country too strong to be subdued. Ukrainians need to set limits on their behavior, recognizing that politics should end at Russia's edge.
I can't help but fear that the Ukrainians' focus on internal battles while Russia looms over them is just begging Russia to invade while the Ukrainians are divided and unable to focus on an external enemy.
