As a great man once said, “By their fruits you shall know them.” Indeed, Jesus warned that sometimes “ravening wolves” come to you “in sheep’s clothing.”

The false prophets of doom otherwise known as the Occupy Movement dropped their sheepish disguise last week just long enough to show their true colors as wolves ready to rip with tooth and claw at the innards of American society.

You see, on Monday, Occupy protesters gave up their role as a modified Greek chorus in the collapse of American society and started taking a more active role in dismantling the American economy they so intensely despise.

It was just a flash of fang, a glimpse of things to come, but for those who have eyes to see, it was a worrisome sight indeed when at the behest of the Obama administration’s former Green Energy Czar Van Jones, several thousand protesters shut down ports in Oakland, Portland and the Seattle area.

You know... the ports that are the lifeblood of our economy, the point of entry for all those consumer goods that make life so rich for even the poor among us. The ports that are the departure point for all those exports that feed farmers, manufacturers and millions of others who are productive members of society.

Jones had told his troops on Dec. 2 that the Dec. 12 attacks were the beginning of the “post-encampment phase” of the Occupy protests. He also sent his followers to a story by the Agence France-Press news group that told of the coming blockade.

That story said the port protest was a reaction to being evicted from squatters’ camps around the country, but it was also being waged for political reasons as well:

“ ‘We’re shutting down these ports because of the union busting and attacks on the working class by the 1 percent,’ said Barucha Peller of the West Coast Port Blockade Assembly, of Occupy Oakland, in a statement. ‘We are also striking back against the nationally co-ordinated attack on the Occupy movement. In response to the police violence and camp evictions against the Occupy movement, this is our co-ordinated response against the 1 percent.’ ”

Oh please. The 1 percent don’t give a darn about the shutdown of the port by a few hundred protesters, and if they did care they could open the port again in hours.

But who does care, or should care, are the hundreds of workers who lost a day of work because of the Occupy goons. Even more to the point, those who SHOULD care are the American people in whose name this kind of disruption is supposedly being done.

As even the Democratic mayor of Oakland, Jean Quan, said, “They are saying ... they have to get the attention of the ruling class. I think the ruling class is probably laughing and the people of this city will be crying this Christmas. It’s really got to stop.”

Or does it?

Might it not just get worse?

I imagine the czar of Russia could laugh off a protest or two in 1916, but by February of 1917 he had lost his crown and by the middle of 1918 he had lost his life.

If you think that is an extreme view, you are right. And there is every possibility that the Occupy movement could founder and fail this winter, but only —ONLY — if the American people (yeah, the “99 percent”) recognize that they’ve been taken for a ride by a bunch of socialist thugs.

Or we could be in for a bumpy 2012, as the Obama-emboldened Occupy Movement grabs for more and more power by brandishing the ugly weapons of intimidation and disruption as we enter the coming election year.

Is this just fear-mongering? Call it what you want, but there is no doubt that every radical in America is energized by the successes of the Occupy Movement and prepared to launch greater protests as soon as practical. Time Magazine was not wrong to name “The Protester” as the person of the year, and what “The Protester” wrought in Egypt and Libya could easily happen here as well, much to the glee of those who wish to overturn the established order.

Listen to the words of Pham Binh, a radical activist in the Occupy Movement, writing in the Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal:

“Occupy is a once in a lifetime opportunity to re-merge the socialist and working-class movements and create a viable broad-based party of radicals, two prospects that have not been in the cards since the late 1960s and early 1970s.”

Binh concludes that “the most basic and fundamental task facing socialists is to merge with Occupy and lead it from within... Out of clouds of pepper spray and phalanxes of riot cops a new generation of revolutionaries is being forged, and it would be a shame if the Peter Camejos, Max Elbaums, Angela Davises, Dave Clines and Huey Newtons of this generation end up in separate “competing” socialist groups as they did in the 1960s... Above all else, now is the time to take practical steps toward creating a broad-based radical party that in today’s context could easily have thousands of active members and even more supporters.”

In other words, the Occupy Movement could be just the beginning. If you favor radical transformation of America into a socialist state, then pick up your sheepskin and drape it over your shoulders. For now, it is safe for wolves to walk among us, speaking soothing words about the “99 percent” and about fairness, while sharpening their claws in readiness for the day they can pounce on the “1 percent” and devour the freedoms that make the 1 percent possible.

But the wolves cannot stay under cover for long. “A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.”

Pay attention. Open your eyes, people!

“By their fruits, you shall know them.”