There was blood, a marching band, a mannequin dressed as a banker (which was later set on fire) and plenty of upset people.

No, I’m not referencing the makings of the latest Hollywood horror flick. Sadly, this is non-fiction. It’s the thousands upon thousands of people protesting in London right now. Anarchists, anti-capitalists, environmentalists…you name it. They took over the England’s main financial district fueled by the quick-paced demise of their retirement funds and job stability. The anger was palpable. It also became contagious.

All of this chaos surrounds the serious gathering of the G20 Summit. (Essentially a meeting of the world’s top 20 countries’ leaders) Chief among the concerns at this pow-wow: How to fix our financial, excuse me, global financial crisis.

I don’t think there’s any question we are in a dire spot and the who’s who of leaders acted, putting on paper plans for an international watchdog for global financials, seeking to target off-shore tax havens and more. What Obama didn’t get was a promise from some foreign heads to initiate more stimulus spending in their respective countries.

Understandable. These other leaders don’t have an onus to cater to Obama, who is still synonymous in their minds to a particular image of America. After all, many think we had a good hand in starting this mess. 

“Some of this contagion did start on Wall Street,” Obama admitted.

That mea culpa won’t exactly placate the thousands of angry protesters…or countless, disheartened back here at home. But perhaps, the international community will be a bit more prone to seeing us as PART of the circle. Not the omnipotent outsider.

But that’s a big ‘if’ and it comes attached to a big ‘however’.

The ‘however’: We are fortunate enough, despite another 700,000 jobs lost last month and still spiraling 401k’s, not to see the kind of anarchist behavior that flooded London’s streets this week. Our avenues haven’t been the setting for burning effigies or the bashing of bank windows. However, the clock is ticking quickly. The next G-20 summit has just been set for this fall in New York.

If president Obama wants to avoid a taste of that tumult here, his plans better make progress, and plenty of it.