"Alpha" is a technical term that's become common usage, referring to the person or creature that's at the apex of the pyramid formed by social species such as wolves and most primates. Some social species show distinct sexual specialization, in primates showing up as a flashy male social hierarchy and a parallel, more low-key, female social hierarchy. The association of "alpha" with "alpha male" came about because early primatologists noticed the male hierarchy first, wrote about it, and only after years more study did they start to see the outline of the female hierarchy. Technically "alpha" is genderless.

In the pure form of a male social hierarchy, one of the perks of being at the top is more than one's fair share of females. Thus has it always been, and for impeccably good scientific reasons: It benefits the species as a whole for its fittest members, who demonstrate their fitness relative to others in the group by clawing their way to the top, to pass on a larger share of their successful genes than the genes of the less-successful competitors. Internal competition is just as useful as external competition as far as evolution is concerned.

The overlay of moral condemnation implied by your question is a recent and artificial development indeed. Up until very recently, feudal hierarchies recognized le droit signeur, "the right of kings", to basically have their pick of all the available females in the kingdom.

That's why the outrage of Republicans over Clinton's acceptance as the alpha male of the favors of a beta female seems either a cynical pose or evidence of utter cluelessness about human nature. Given the seemingly unending stream of scandals about the sexual escapades of Republican politicians, I'd have to vote for cynicism. The alpha male Republicans most naturally inclined to defend "the way things were meant to be" instead are wracked by guilt. I often feel sorry for you guys for all the suffering you inflict upon yourselves.

If you think that it's a jungle out there, devil take the hindmost, dog eat dog, etc., and that a person is entitled to everything he earns, how can you be censorious over the superior males enjoying the most natural of rewards?

Yes gb, I assure you that I'm human, albeit a somewhat eccentric one. You're wrong to assume that I'm talking about people I don't like, though. While familiarity might bring contempt, sometimes it brings understanding too. It's not like I don't know a lot of conservative people, directly and as people. Remember too that I learned about Conservatism at the knee of my pappy Atilla the Republican, and that gives me a very rich and nuanced view of the inner life of the conservative mind. I cannot be accused of having a cartoonish or shallow view of Conservatives.

Does what I'm saying apply to me? That's too sweeping a question to answer meaningfully, gb. I think it's demeaning to insist that everybody's exactly alike and that some feature you observe in another's mind must therefore be present in your own. To some degree Conservatives and Liberals really do think differently, which is a pretty elementary conclusion when you watch us examine the same set of facts and come to different conclusions. Another dimension along which people differ is their tolerance for differentness itself, and it's clear that Liberals and Conservatives occupy opposite ends of that axis too. It's an asymmetry that makes life simple for the conservative mind and quite complicated for the liberal mind: How do I tolerate people who think intolerance is a virtue? How do you stretch the concept of diversity so far as to include people who think diversity is evil?

Well, that's for me and my lib'ral brethren to rassle with, gb. Nobody really expects conservatives to deal with problems like that, because we each serve a different specialized role in society. A healthy society needs a healthy balance of liberal and conservative, tipped slightly in favor of liberalism over the long haul, so the general direction is forward. Another asymmetry: I don't want to rid the world of conservatives, I only want to restore that healthy balance. Relax.