Just that I think you've underestimated Al Franken, at least judging by your initial comment. Franken may be a lot of things, but I don't think he is a dummy and, IMHO, to consider him a dummy is to underestimate him.
What is the deal with the "foil" in the hat? I've seen mentions of that all over these forums and have no clue what it means. (Maybe I'm the dummy!)
I think that Franken's actions have shown him to be a dummy and this particular "stunt" (if that's what you want to relegate it to) is just another example. Truly intelligent people don't resort to this kind of behavior. I think your giving him too much credit by reading any cleverness into it.
You might be able to devise some really sneaky, clever set of circumstances that would use this type of behavior to mask your true, ultimate intentions, but Franken's just not capable of that much brain power (IMHO).
As for the tin foil thing: it's a reference to some of the more, shall we say, "far out" conspiracy theorists. The hint being that maybe their tin foil hat (used to block Alien Mind Rays) is either too tight, too loose, or lacking enough tin foil althogether. Your initial comment struck me as having an overtone of conspiracy theorist to it. I can see now that's not what you intended. (There's a funny moment in the movie "Signs" with Mel Gibson where he and his kids are wearing tin foil hats)