Meaning of "There is no light at the Top"

Rich Higgins, in his book "The Memo, 20 Years Inside the Deep State Fighting for America First," quotes his boss Ed McCallum as saying, "... there is no light at the top." (on page 77)

I googled the expression to see exactly what was meant by this expression, and I found it is not a standard expression.  Think it through and ask what you have when there is no light.  Without light there is darkness.  What this means is that the top levels of our government under Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama were in darkness.  Our culture could interpret this darkness as ignorance, it could be wickedness, or it could be evil.   On pages 46 and 47 of The Memo we read how Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld refused to use the word "insurgency."  By edict, there were no insurgents.  People like Rich Higgins and Steve Coughlin (F.B.I.) were so frustrated that they tried speaking the truth and were punished.  It was when Ed McCallum rescued Rich Higgins from an administrative ambush that McCallum told him, "You will find out, pretty soon, that there is no light at the top."

Edward McCallum was Rich Higgins' boss, director of the CTTSO, "Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office" inside the Department of Defense (DoD).  Edward McCallum was a retired Army Lt. Col. and we should examine his experience to evaluate his assessment that "there is no light at the top."

Search for Edward McCallum here (https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-108hhrg92393/html/CHRG-108hhrg92393.htm) to read his testimony before a Congressional Committee, 108th Congress, September 29, 2003:  COUNTERTERRORISM TECHNOLOGY: PICKING WINNERS AND LOSERS.  This testimony is also on CSPAN at this link:  https://www.c-span.org/video/?178400-1/counterterrorism-technology  The entire video is 3 hours long, but Edward McCallum is one of the first speakers, starting at 18:14 and ending at 27:30.  Then he speaks again from 42:00 to 46:00.  Lt. Col. McCallum was a DoD manager working in counter-terrorism and you learn about project management by listening to the Q&A.  I stopped listening after 46 minutes.  You can tell he is experienced and competent.

Here is more Congressional testimony by Edward McCallum, SECURITY LAPSES AT DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY FACILITIES, THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 1999:  https://irp.fas.org/congress/1999_hr/990624-mccallum.htm  Edward McCallum had a lot to say about problems within our government.

Here is an article in the Washington Post describing how Lt. Col. McCallum was punished for blowing the whistle on security lapses in our nuclear facilities:  DOE Ex-Aide Describes `Reprisal' for Warnings By Vernon Loeb, June 25, 1999 (https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1999/06/25/doe-ex-aide-describes-reprisal-for-warnings/6072e428-f82c-46fa-afa8-2db2b3f5250c/)

Aristotle in his Rhetoric gave us ethos, logos, and pathos.  Examining the experiences of Lt. Col. McCallum is assessing his ethos.  I believe in him.  Osama bin Laden started under Bill Clinton, flourished under George W., and while he died under Obama, the Muslim Brotherhood made huge gains in America under Obama.  Two terms each for these three Presidents and we see 24 years of darkness enveloping Washington, D.C., and the rise of an out-of-control Deep State.  These three Presidents inflicted more harm on our country during 24 years than Osama bin Laden could ever have imagined.

When you hear a serious man like Lt. Col. Edward McCallum say circa 2003 "there is no light at the top," you can understand why our country is in such serious trouble today.  The top of our government has been rotting for decades.