no way to remove something if the control file is damaged

[Dan Jacobson <jidanni@jidanni.org>]

M> I'm trying to get rid of a package here
M> or at least put it on hold, or just get apt
M> to shuttup about it already, and I'm at
M> a loss.  Any ideas? 

M> # dpkg --purge --force-all sysadmin-guide
M> dpkg - warning, overriding problem because --force enabled:
M>  Package is in a very bad inconsistent state - you should
M>  reinstall it before attempting a removal.
M> (Reading database ... 57729 files and directories currently installed.)
M> Removing sysadmin-guide ...
M> error: empty control file at /usr/sbin/install-docs line 600.
M> dpkg: error processing sysadmin-guide (--purge):
M>  subprocess pre-removal script returned error exit status 25

odd, no way to remove something if the control file is damaged.
Perhaps try wget .../sysadmin-guide_0.7-2_all.deb
and variations of
dpkg -i sysadmin-guide_0.7-2_all.deb
which other readers of this list might mention...