Rejecting the system, everyone in it, and everyone that's willing to interact with it, is not a way to get good outcomes. No don't "just take it" but encouraging one of the good opinions of the vice president is fine.
I disagree, some systems are so bad they need to be rejected outright. As a European, I find asking for the help of Vance and Musk as hostile, even if the person asking is in the right.
He is not asking Vance for help as an individual but the position he has for the country the company is headquartered in. What would you expect? They cant go and ask a random country for help on a complicated geopolitical issue. You are supposed (maybe required) to contact officials from your country and relevant agencies and institutions.
I'm not the biggest fan of the US Administration currently either but if a company asks them for help, they're doing what you're supposed to do, and they shouldn't be labeled as bad or sharing the view of the current administration.
I don't see how a representative of the executive and an oligarch of one country have any say in the legal matters of another. You either comply with the laws of the country you operate in, or you get out, it has nothing to do with the president of the country your HQ is in.
At the very least don't complain about it publicly. Using diplomatic channels I think things like this can quietly go away.
But if you make it an issue in the public court of opinion people usually support their own democratically elected government compared to the increasingly hostile foreign regime.
There are legal avenues in any jurisdiction to contest decisions that you believe are unfair. Running to the (vice-)president and your oligarch friends is just weak and makes you look like the bully.
You are right. But there is a point here that international harmonization and compromise is a solution here. Which is not exactly a strength of an America First policy.
Also that paragraph is very critical as far as praise goes.