Don't disrespect the alpha

It's a bad idea.  But even the smartest, most successful men can find themselves temporarily blinded by a ruthless gold digger:

Rupert Murdoch's wife Wendi Deng was ‘totally blindsided’ by his decision to sue for divorce, her friends have claimed. The 82-year-old tycoon is said to have gone to great lengths to be seen to be pursuing his normal schedule as recently as last Tuesday – when he was due to preside at a Los Angeles gala.

However, an acquaintance of the couple says that during Tuesday afternoon Mr Murdoch gave the first clue that ‘something was up’ when he abruptly cancelled his appearance to honour one of his oldest friends, Fox film studio chairman Jim Gianopulos.

Two days later a tersely worded document was filed at the New York State Supreme Court stating the power couple’s 14-year marriage had ‘broken down irretrievably’.

You have to read Wendy Deng's career to believe it.  First she parlays a middle-aged married man's attraction to her into a visa sponsor , then she seduces the husband and replaces the wife, obtaining a green card in the process.  Then she leaves the man, seduces the married Murdoch, and manages to convince him to marry her as well.

What's fascinating is that all she had to do was behave like a respectful wife to one of the most powerful men on the planet, but she couldn't hide her contempt for his inability to see her as she was long enough to see him to his grave.  Instead, she did the one thing she couldn't do - challenge the alpha - and Murdoch promptly did what alphas do to challengers and crushed her.

It's a remarkable sum of stupidities.  Murdoch had to know her history and should have known she was a pure platinum gold digger. Deng had to know that however old and tired Murdoch is, he didn't become rich and powerful by being the pushover his behavior had led her to conclude he was.  It merely goes to show that the vagaries of intersexual relations trump success, wealth, and intelligence.