Except when it comes to calling for war, or attacking foreign people because "they are not like us".
Seems this speech was no exception. Generally, the media reported the AP or Reuters releases, which were most likely written before the speech anyway.
Politico did a little more, but did not like the speech. No vision, they say. I guess vision was probably saying "bomb Iran" or "let's arm the rebels in Syria".
But what can we expect from a paper which published this type of insanity about comparing Clinton and Kerry:
http://politi.co/YcO8It
Good sign, Nile Gardiner did not like the speech http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100203362/john-kerry-threatens-to-bore-the-world-to-death-with-excruciating-first-speech-as-secretary-of-state/
Here is CNN:
http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2013/02/20/kerry-diplomacy-is-cheaper-than-no-diplomacy/
USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/politics/2013/02/20/1933413/
OMG, Christian Science Monitor seems to have understood the speech:
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Foreign-Policy/2013/0220/John-Kerry-speech-US-must-resist-temptation-to-turn-inward
In his first major policy speech as the nations top diplomat, Secretary Kerry said the US must resist the same urge to turn inward that tempted it after World War II. Instead, he said, it should lead in the global causes of the 21st century, ranging from economic prosperity and expansion of democracy to the addressing of climate change.
and this
Kerry did not use his speech to offer a laundry list of the pressing crises he plans to address. He made no mention of Syrias civil war, the Middle East peace process, or the challenge of a rising China, although he did speak of the importance of making sure Iran never obtains a [nuclear] weapon that would endanger our allies and our interests.
Instead, he focused on the broad global challenges that he said actually present opportunities for international cooperation and American leadership. Such challenges include a dramatically changing climate, demographic changes (defined most starkly by countries in North Africa and the Middle East, he said, where about half the population is under 20 years old), human rights, and global stability and security.
Note to politico: read csmonitor. It may help you understand what you are missing.