Seeking to understand

Did you guys read Stephen Covey? One of his 7 Habits was "seek first to understand, then to be understood".
We do so much politically bickering on this board that I think some of us (me included) are crowding the part where we try to understand the other sides' reasoning.
With this in mind, I'm trying to read some liberal opinions and hope you'll direct me to the more respected ones.
If you have a writer that makes a good liberal point (or libertarian or conservative point), I hope you'll attach the link in this thread.