What, precisely, is "ferocious isolationinsm?"
It is something like walk softly but carry a big stick. In essense, the guiding principle is don't use force unless you mean it. And when you mean it, mean it.
For example, after Sept 11, the invasion of Afghanistan and the toppling of the Taliban qualified. And, if Bin Laden is hiding in NW Pakistan, and the Pakistani government will not deal with him, then deal with him and those who protect him. I would be willing to use nuclear weapons in an area like that if that is what it would take to accomplish the goal. And I would not care if "our allies" chose to join us or not.
And please be clear. I do not care a whit about rebuilding an area we devastate in self defense. We make war to destroy our enemies not remake the world. Those who want to deal with use peacefully we deal with peacefully. Those who don't want to deal with us we leave alone. Those who threaten us we destroy.
Ron Paul may or may not agree with this posture. I have no idea. But where Ron Paul and I do agree is on the need to get a Congressional declaration of War before engaging in the above. This indicates National resolve. And it avoids things like the horrendous backstabbing of our deployed forces you see being played out today.