“The more socially liberal factions of Trump’s inner circle — including his family members and staffers Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner — have been opposed to all the anti-LGBT initiatives of this administration. However, they quickly determined that their ‘political capital be spent elsewhere,’ as one senior white house official characterized it, given that their advice on LGBT issues has been routinely overruled, if not overlooked, by this administration and President Trump.”- The Daily Beast

(I have therefore prepared a statement on their behalf.)

We are very sorry, but you know how capital is.

This move to kick transgender troops out of the military is a low, awful political ploy. We would like nothing better than to say so. Really. But we had to be strong and silent and make sacrifices. We had to think of our capital.

Political capital is rare and correspondingly precious, and we must hoard it as a dragon hoards its gold. Each time we fail to voice even the mildest disapproval at something the administration is doing, it is like one more golden cup being added to our pile. Each little bit counts. Every issue, no matter how small, that we let pass without a murmur only builds our strength. One day we will speak with the voice of the thunder, and the president will quake at our disapproval.

But until that day we must be very very careful and hoard up our treasures against the time that is to come, and that is why we have prudently chosen to say nothing.

Look at how careful we have been. Withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement was a blow indeed, one that might well affect our children and grandchildren, but we knew that it was more important to make sure that when the time came, we would have enough capital to make our voices heard on an issue that really counted.

And this health-care debate has been a trying time for us, indeed. The method of arriving at these bills was reckless, and the likely outcome contrary to anything that was promised — to say nothing of the substantial human cost. But we had to weigh this against something equally important. We looked at our capital and we thought: Think how much we will have at this time next year if we say nothing. We have to give it a chance to grow, safe and unmolested, just like a child with a preexisting condition won’t.

The latest was especially hard. We love our LGBT friends, of course, and we are immensely grateful for their sacrifices. Specifically, for their willingness to sacrifice their rights to the use of public spaces and participation in the institutions of this nation, in order to protect our capital (which must not be disturbed until the time is ripe).

But holding our peace will give us UNTHINKABLE POWER on the day — that bold and glorious day — when finally we are able to use all the capital that we have so carefully saved. On that day our voices will ring across the land. We will be so loud that everyone will know and see our courage.

In the mean time, we must do our duty. We must watch our capital grow and grow and grow. Silently. For decades. We will know when that time comes. We will know because it will affect us directly.

Alexandra Petri is a humor columnist for the Washington Post.