On Sunday, while surrounded by even more Christmas trees at the annual "Christmas in Washington" concert, Obama said of Jesus Christ, "Through his example, he taught us that we should love the Lord, love our neighbors, as we love ourselves. It’s a teaching that has endured for generations. And today, it lies at the heart of my faith and that of millions of Americans, and billions around the globe."

Opposition leader John Boehner, speaker of the GOP-controlled House of Representatives, turns out to be on the same side as the president in the War on Christmas, as shown by his leading role in the ceremony to light the Capitol Christmas Tree. “You look up at this awe-inspiring Dome and you look up at the night sky, you get overwhelmed. Perhaps just as those humble shepherds were when the angel appeared before them," he said. "Out in the middle of nowhere, they must have wondered what on Earth was going on. ‘Fear not,’ the angel said, ‘For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy… For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.’"

No atheists spoke at the event.

Around the same time, the religious group Faith and Action exercised their First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion by standing before the Supreme Court building in broad daylight, dressed up in 1 A.D. garb as if part of a nativity scene.

Reuters

The annual gathering attracted respectful coverage from the national press. Just days later, departing the Christmas-tree-filled city via Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, I stepped up to the Alaska Airlines ticket counter to check in for the day's first flight west, only to hear over the loudspeakers a familiar tune: "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go." In the nation's capital, the words rang true. But I would be flying roughly 3,000 miles to a faraway coast bereft of snow. Far from the nation's financial and political capitals, outside the northeast-obsessed gaze of the national media, were anti-Christmas forces expanding their influence? Eager to reunite with my family, I made my way to Orange County to find out.

Shock and Awe in the Land of Sunshine

Conor Friedersdorf

As it turns out, I needn't have worried. Costa Mesa, where I grew up, is home to South Coast Plaza, one of the nation's premier shopping malls and a Christmas stronghold. Even more imposing than the 96-foot fir tree rising in an interior atrium and decorated with all manner of ornaments are the topiary reindeer sentinels glaring at all who pass by on surrounding city streets. Were I an anti-Christmas foot soldier, I'd be loath to challenge these antlered adversaries, for the ground troops are augmented by comrades who sit atop giant Christmas ornaments–lookouts that afford them an unobstructed view of all traffic as it passes on major thoroughfares. I managed to snap this photograph of one such reindeer atop his perch:

Conor Friedersdorf

A couple miles away at "The Lab" and "The Camp," a duplex of outdoor hipster malls, there were no reindeer sentinels present, but pro-Christmas forces had infiltrated even the People's Market, adapting their propaganda to its ironic vernacular:

Conor Friedersdorf

But the young and hip are often cash poor and riddled with credit-card debt. Curious about the strength of Christmas among the disproportionately powerful, wealthy, and privileged 1 percent, I ventured to neighboring Newport Beach, where I found a 90-foot Christmas tree lit by local icon Mickey Mouse, but also the 105th annual Newport Harbor boat parade, in which multimillionaires decorate their yachts with anything from giant Santa Claus figures on jet skis to nativity scenes playing out beneath lighted palm trees. The nearby neighborhood of Lido Island also has a street nativity scene at the entrance to one of its gated communities. Satisfied that my own Christmas-celebrating family would be safe even in the less ritzy city next door, I finally ginned up the courage to venture from the L.A. house where I live into neighboring Santa Monica.