What Should Art Criticism Be?

I recently read an op-ed piece by Maureen Dowd published in the New York Times titled "Bigger Than Bambi".  She discusses the apparent trend of art critics writing more pleasant reviews of art than have been done in the recent past.  She tends to come down on the side of the art critic circle.  I believe there is a much better alternative to getting second hand information about art or an artist through an art critic who has his/her own agenda, and who is always wearing their very individual and unique worldview tinted glasses.
As I have stated many times before, I do not find critics useful for the most part.  They use their academic knowledge of Art History and personal opinion to appoint themselves as tastemakers for the rest of society.  I think this is one of the few negative consequences of the Age of Science.  Art, like most of the rest of society has become rather forced into the Scientific Method of approaching the world.  Why I am most definitely a proponent of critical thinking and the Scientific Method as a means of discovery and progress, I do not believe it works as well for engaging with art.  Art and Science are complimentary and each inspires the other.  However, how can a universal metric be put in place to measure every individual's visual communications to the world?  Art comes more from a place of dreams, feelings, and an artist's personal experience observing and participating in the world around them.  Like Science, Art builds upon itself.  Many artist's views and visual conclusions have been copied and extrapolated upon throughout the History of Art.  Now, how do you measure something that is constantly elastic.  Art is not a linear concept.  It's an amalgamation of ideas not bound by the confines of time.
So, how should we interact with the art and artists of 'now'?  We should talk about it.  Information on art, like everything else imaginable, is instantly available through many reliable avenues.  And, as I have written before, the viewer's opinion should always remain paramount.  It is up to art lovers to educate themselves as well.  Artists should be more engaged with the world(which has been a challenge of mine) and those who love their work.  Art lovers/collectors should be seeking information straight from the source rather than an unnecessary middleman.  I would read an interview with an artist before I would ever read an art critic's opinion on that same artist.  Art should be accessible to anyone who wants to participate and every attempt at making it unobtainable and unnecessarily confusing and absurd should be resisted and changed.