unknown unknowns.

Bob Herbert's column in The Paper today reminded me of this Slate article from way back. With election day only 72 hours(ish) away and superstitious uncertainty filling the heart of this Obama supporter (my concerns unassuaged by projected electoral maps and polls), I summon the poetry of Donald Rumsfeld for comfort:

The Unknown
As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know.

—Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing

UPDATE: This also makes me feel better-- yeswecake.com.