Ahhhhhhhh…The sheets are crisp, the pillows are soft, the comforter is all-encompassing. It will be safe to close our eyes on the living nightmare of the last four years.

The promise of bliss became clear yesterday not just because the mentally damaged loser finally (albeit grudgingly) surrendered to the transition, but, far more importantly, because President-elect Biden announced a string of appointments and nominations, all of whom have something in common:

They’re normal. And competent. And experienced.

Imagine such a thing.

The new Secretary of State has specialized in foreign policy for decades. Whereas the first guy tapped by Trump was an oil executive with zero foreign policy experience (who naturally came to loathe Trump).

The new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (its first Black woman), tasked with helping to repair our tattered global credibility, is a 35-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service. Whereas the first ambassador tasked by Trump was an ex-southern governor with zero foreign policy experience.

The new Director of National Intelligence (its first woman) has spent a career in intelligence and national security. Whereas the last guy tapped by Trump – the guy who’s now a lame duck – is an ex-House Republican hack and personal injury lawyer who tried to hide his dearth of intelligence experience by padding his resume.

The new National Security Advisor is a State Department veteran who served as Biden’s top security advisor during the veep years. Whereas the first guy tapped by Trump for that crucial job was a backstage conduit to Russia, a felon who wound up pleading guilty – twice – after lying to the FBI.

The new Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, who will serve on the National Security Council, is a former Secretary of State. Whereas Trump never had that kind of envoy because he thought the climate crisis was a hoax.

I studied Biden’s entire list, and darned if I could find a single grifter, bootlicker, Fox News nutcase, or family flunky. Nobody who’s likely to rape the system for personal gain. Nobody who’s likely to wear a tinfoil hat or retweet white supremacists.

Instead, we’re gonna get smarts and sanity. Is this really allowed?

That’s a serious question. After four years that seemed to obliterate all that came before, I have to ask. Because it’s downright disorienting – pleasantly so – to ponder the notion that qualified people will run the government and tackle crises.

If you’re feeling relieved, you have lots of company. Mark Salter, former speechwriter for John McCain, tweeted yesterday that Biden’s choices “make me giddy with boredom.” Conservative Trump critic David Frum quipped, “Biden appointees continue to under-represent the Weirdo-American community.”

Granted, the Biden team will make its share of mistakes, as all teams do, the GOP will jump on all errors real and imagined, and woe to Biden if he ever wears a tan suit. But at least we can put our heads on the pillow at night without having spent the day doom-scrolling, without girding ourselves for the next inevitable roundelays of racist insults, gas-lighting lies, and tweeted paranoia.

The Biden team, with its seasoned respect for American values, won’t turn the Justice Department into the president’s criminal defense firm, or trash the states that voted red in November, or give the middle finger to medical experts. Imagine what it might be like to go 24 hours at a stretch without twitching at the latest news alert.

We’re exhausted by the bullshit and we need a break. We want to free up some bandwidth inside our heads. We want to live our lives secure in the belief that the people in charge (however we might disagree with them from time to time) actually do have a clue. Is that too much to ask?

Yes, the years ahead will still be tumultuous, and Trump’s pandemic will not go quietly. But at least there will be grownups in the room. And we can again sleep with a modicum of peace. Please bore us, Sleepy Joe. We’re gonna catch some zzzzs.