Morning Constitutional – Monday, 10 May 2010

Good morning, folks. Betty White smashed it on Saturday Night, didn\’t she? Now, here\’s your morning constitutional:

Probably the worst-kept secret ever: President Obama is expected to announce that he will nominate Solicitor General Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice Stevens. The Washington Post has a timeline of Kagan\’s career, and SCOTUSBlog has a primer on Kagan.

German Chancellor Angela Merckel suffered a major blow Sunday as her coalition lost a key local election in North Rhine-Westphalia, one of Germany\’s most populous regions and often thought to be a bellwether of German politics. The loss, a consequence of Germany\’s proposed bailout of the Greek economy, means she loses her majority in the Budesrat and will need to work with the opposition to do anything.

The first round of indirect talks between Israel and Palestine finished Sunday. U.S. envoy George Mitchell, who has been shuttling back and forth between each side, will return next week to continue the talks.

Tory leader David Cameron and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg have begun face-to-face negotiations over a possible power-sharing deal. No announcement is expected until Monday at the earliest.

Oakland Athletics pitcher Dallas Braden pitched a perfect game Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays. It was the 19th perfect game in major league history.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is frustrated at the slow pace that finance reform is making its way through the Senate.

European markets shot up Monday as European leaders and major banks announced emergency lending measures. U.S. markets are expected to follow suit.

In the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate primary race, Rep. Joe Sestak is now five points ahead of Sen. Arlen Specter.

Why did President Obama release the number of nuclear weapons the U.S. has?

Finally, cutting a deck of playing cards has decided the election of a local council seat in the Yarmouth Ward in the English city of Norfolk (Labour won).