Yeah, it was somewhat tongue in cheek. But I really wanted to point out that it wasn't Willy alone doing the damage. It started before him and continues today with more talk of base closures.

Consider this from the past:

"Cheney said at the height of the Cold War that if Reagan "doesn't really cut defense, he
becomes the No. 1 special pleader in town." Cheney urged Reagan to cut defense spending, saying, "the president has to reach out and take a whack at everything to be credible," and told the White House that "you've got to hit defense".

Six years later, Cheney followed through on his statements by changing the same Reagan defense policies he now touts. In 1990, he bragged to Congress that as Defense Secretary he "cut almost $65 billion out of the five-year defense program" and that subsequent proposals would "take another $167 billion out." He highlighted, "we're recommending base closures," "we're talking about force structure cuts" and "we've got a military construction freeze".